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Iloilo City validates death of toddler due to dengue

By Perla Lena

April 19, 2023, 7:49 pm

<p><strong>DENGUE</strong>. Dr. June Frances Umani (left), Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases (EREID) Coordinator of the Iloilo City Health Office said on Wednesday (April 19, 2023) the number of dengue cases in the city is declining. She said the public is encouraged to continue observing the 4S strategy to address dengue cases. <em>(PNA file photo by PGLena)</em></p>

DENGUE. Dr. June Frances Umani (left), Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases (EREID) Coordinator of the Iloilo City Health Office said on Wednesday (April 19, 2023) the number of dengue cases in the city is declining. She said the public is encouraged to continue observing the 4S strategy to address dengue cases. (PNA file photo by PGLena)

ILOILO CITY – The City Health Office (CHO) here is currently validating a report on the suspected death of a two-year-old girl due to dengue, that could increase to three the number of fatalities here in the first quarter of 2023.

Dr. June Frances Umani, Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases (EREID) Coordinator of the Iloilo CHO, said even with the reported deaths, cases in the city are declining.

“This is just a probable dengue death. If confirmed, we will already have three deaths as of April,” she said in an interview, adding that it was not a cause for alarm since cases did not come from a single place and no clustering as of date.

The first two recorded deaths in January were a 28-year-old male garbage collector from Mandurriao district and a 15-year-old male from Arevalo while the ongoing validation is about a two-year-old girl from Barangay Tanza Baybay in City Proper district.

In an interview on Wednesday, she said Iloilo City’s 144 cases from January to April this year remain lower compared with the 148 cases for the same period in 2022.

The average daily case in January was at two to three, down to one to two cases in February and there were weeks from March to April without any monitored dengue cases, the medical officer added.

Umani said that January happened to be rainy so the number of cases was high.

With the anticipated drought at the end of the last quarter, Umani said that they were looking forward to containing dengue cases.

Nonetheless, she called on the public to continue observing the "4S" strategy consisting of search and destroy, seeking early consultation, self-protective measures, and saying "yes" to fogging in case of an outbreak.

“This is a prevention measure to address dengue,” she added. (PNA)


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