BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Department of Health (DOH-CAR) urged the public not to be complacent with the significant drop in the reported dengue fever cases region-wide because the number of cases could increase anytime once the vector-borne disease will have the chance to infect people.
Dr. Julius Cesar Alcala, DOH-CAR’s Medical Officer IV, said dengue fever has become a year-round illness from its previous cyclical occurrence that is why people must sustain efforts to continue destroying the breeding ground of dengue-carrying mosquitoes which are the clear and stagnant water not only outside their homes but also those containers inside.
“We must not be complacent just because dengue cases around the region have significantly decreased over the first eight weeks of the year. We do not want to relax because dengue poses a serious threat to the lives of those in the critical sector,” Alcala stressed.
For the first 8 weeks of this year, Alcala reported there were 232 dengue suspects that were reported by the different dengue surveillance units regionwide which is a 76 percent decrease compared to the same period last year wherein there were 965 dengue cases that were recorded.
According to him, the cases were from Kalinga with 96 or a 41.4 percent reduction, Apayao with 43 cases equivalent to 18.5 percent drop, Benguet with 31 cases or a 13.4 percent decrease, Baguio City with 22 dengue cases equal to a 9.5 percent reduction, Mountain Province with 10 cases or 4.3 percent drop, Ifugao with 7 dengue cases equivalent to 3 percent reduction, Abra with 5 cases or 2.2 percent decrease and non-CAR with 18 cases with a 7.8 reduction.
Of the recorded number of dengue cases this year, Alcala noted there were 150 males that represent 64.7 percent of the infected individuals while the remaining 35.3 percent were females.
The DOH-CAR official revealed the age range of those affected by dengue fever is from 6 months to 80 years old and that the median is 21 years old.
He added clustering of dengue cases were noted in barangay Turod, Luna; barangay Cabatacan, barangay Poblacion, barangay Suan, Pudtol; Apayao; barangay Appas, Bulanao, Dagupan West, Tabuk City, Kalinga.
For this year, he disclosed there was one death from Baguio city who was a 52-year old male from a still undisclosed barangay.
While health experts are not aware on when the dengue fever cases in the region will again surge, Alcala advised the residents to practice the usual search and destroy the breeding grounds of dengue-carrying mosquitoes, seek early consultations from the nearest health facilities when suffering from continuous fever, and guarantee the cleanliness of their surroundings to make sure that mosquitoes will not breed on containers of clear and stagnant water.
He claimed by seeking early consultations with the health authorities, people will be guaranteed the right medication for their illnesses for them to get well considering that their conditions will be properly monitored by their physicians.
By Dexter A. See