Dengue cases up 17% in CV

The Dept. of Health warned yesterday that dengue cases this year may increase if a two-year pattern continues.

“It has been observed that because of different strains of dengue, the increased pattern is usually every other year,” said Rennan Cimafranca of the DOH Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (DOH- 7 RESU).

A RESU Dengue Situation report revealed a 17 percent increase in cases from 2011 to 2012 for the months of January to May.

The onset of the rainy season yesterday underscores the need to watch out for the day-biting mosquito the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits the virus that causes dengue.

The insect breeds in clean, stagnant water.

Total dengue cases for the first five months in 2012 reached 2,463 with 20 deaths.

Last year there were fewer cases at 2,078 with 14 deaths.

Topping the 2012 list in Central Visayas is Cebu City with 1,254 cases with 8 deaths.

Last year, Cebu City, the most populous urban area in teh region, also had the highest incidence of dengue last year with 717 cases and 7 deaths.

Maintaining second spot for two years is Lapulapu City with 136 cases and 3 deaths.

Last year, Lapu-lapu had 130 cases ad 1 death.

Along with the opening of classes, DOH will also launch its dengue awareness advocacy through orientation sessions in selected schools in Cebu City.

The government is pushing for inexpensive but effective approaches to prevent the disease.

On top of their list is maintaining clean surroundings and wiping out mosquito breeding sites in water containers, Cimafranca said.

Dr. Wyben Briones of the Cebu Medical Society and Rotary Club (RC) of Cebu presented during Tuesday’s 888 News Forum how their larvicide campaign helped bring down dengue cases for the past two years.

The campaign is a five-year; five-phase initiative launched in September 2011 with over 50 civic groups.

He urged Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama and Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy, present in the forum, to support the campaign.

Rama said he promises financial support if the city council says yes.

Sitoy asked for a formal letter “for COA (Commission on Audit) purposes” and pledged support.

On June 15, the DOH and the Philippine Information Agency will pilot in San Fernando a text blast messaging system at the barangay level to send alerts for help to people suspected of falling sick with dengue.

Of 200 reporting sites in the region, 70 percent are private hospitals.

The capabilities of health professionals in handling dengue cases are also being updated.

The first-ever national observance of the ASEAN Dengue Day on June 15 will be hosted by the Pampanga capital.

The theme is “ASEAN Unity for a Dengue-Free Community.”

The World Health Organization said dengue hemorrhagic fever was first recognized in the 1950s during epidemics in the Philippines and Thailand, and spread to the Americas and Asia./with Inquirer report