In observance of the Holy Week, the Philippine News Agency’s online news service will be off on March 29, Good Friday, and March 30, Black Saturday. Normal operations will resume on March 31, Easter Sunday.

— The Editors

Dengue cases in Bicol exceed alert threshold

By Connie Calipay

July 18, 2019, 9:00 pm

LEGAZPI CITY -- The Department of Health (DOH) here said Bicol has been included in the list of regions that have exceeded the dengue alert threshold during the first half of this year.

Dr. Ernie Vera, DOH regional director, in a press conference on Wednesday said they have recorded 2,660 dengue cases with 30 deaths in different public hospitals across the region from January 1 to July 13 this year.

He said the figure is higher compared to the 1,448 cases recorded during the same period last year.

Camarines Sur topped the list of provinces in Bicol with the most number of dengue cases recorded at 1,113 cases with 11 deaths; followed by Albay with 524 and 10 deaths; Sorsogon -- 477 with 5 deaths; Catanduanes -- 246 cases with 1 death; Masbate -- 170 cases with 1 death; and Camarines Norte -- 128 cases and 3 deaths. Two cases recorded in the region came from places outside of Bicol.

"This is alarming since despite our concerted efforts together with local health partners, there is still a continuous rise of dengue cases across our region," Vera said.

He said that with the prevailing rainy season, "we are expecting more cases to surface".

"Ang dengue ay viral in nature na sakit at wala itong known cure or antibiotics. Ang kumplikasyon ng dengue ay ang posibilidad na kamatayan, kelangan maagapan agad ng mga magulang at mga health workers ng sa ganun hindi na humantong sa pagkamatay ng pasyente. (Dengue is a viral disease with no known cure or specific antibiotics. The complication of dengue may lead to death of the patient, so the parents should seek early consultation if there are symptoms of dengue)" Vera said.

Meanwhile, to further educate the public on the mosquito-borne disease, Vera said the DOH has implemented a color-coding system to determine whether dengue fever is present in a community.

"It has four different color codes with different interpretations with accompanying intervention in every color code that the leaders must do. For the White, it means no cases/clustering in an area and it must continue the routine prevention and control program. While the Green indicates clustering of cases with more than two cases in a barangay. It must intensify IEC campaign on prevention and control, entomologic survey by local health authorities; improve environmental sanitation, mobilize residents of affected barangay and start clean-up campaign with the help of the dengue brigade, start community vigilance, search for more cases and equip local health units for management of cases," he said.

Vera added that Yellow indicates hotspots, where an increase in number of cases is observed for two consecutive weeks even though the number is still within the expected range. Red, on the other hand, means there is an outbreak of the disease in an area wherein the number of cases is more than the expected range.

Vera pleaded with the public to not just rely on the Health department in curbing the rise in dengue cases but to also do their part in eradicating the disease. (PNA)

Comments