BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Department of Health (DOH-CAR) reported that dengue fever cases from January 1 to November 4 this year decreased by 69 percent from the recorded 10,424 cases during the same period last year to only 3,275 cases for the current period.
Geeny Anne I. Austria, Nurse V of the DOH-CAR’s Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (RESU), explained that there has been a consistent decline in dengue fever cases in various parts of the region this year which is a welcome development and that the reduction in dengue cases could be attributed to the awareness of the people on the needed preventive measures that will be undertaken in their backyards.
The recorded dengue cases were from Kalinga with 1,098 cases which is equivalent to 35.5 percent of the registered cases followed by Benguet with 581 cases or 17percent, Ifugao – 469 cases or 14.3 percent, Baguio City – 402 cases or 12.3 percent , Abra – 240 cases or 7.3 percent , Apayao – 193 cases or 5.9 percent , Mountain Province – 73 cases or 2.2 percent and non-CAR provinces – 219 cases or 6.7 percent.
Compared to the 21 dengue-related deaths that were reported last year, Austria disclosed that there were only 7 reported deaths from the Cordillera and 2 from non-CAR provinces for the reckoning period this year.
She added there were 1,812 males affected with dengue which represents 53.3 percent of the total number of dengue cases that were recorded regionwide while the age range of those who contracted dengue was from 3 days to 92 years old with a median of 16 years old.
For the past one month, she claimed that there were 328 dengue cases that were reported by the different health facilities which is 22 percent lower than the same period last year where there were around 420 dengue cases that were reported.
According to her, the registered dengue cases were from Kalinga with 117 or 35.5 percent of the total reported dengue cases followed by Baguio City and Benguet with 41 cases each or 12.5 percent, Ifugao – 40 cases with 12.2 percent, Apayao – 25 cases or 7.6 percent, Abra – 16 cases or 4.9 percent, Mountain Province – 1 case or 0.3 percent, and non-Car provinces – 47 cases or 14.3 percent.
Based on the DOH-CAR’s report, there were 185 males who contracted dengue which represent 57 percent of the total number of reported cases while the age range of those who were affected with dengue was 3 months to 82 years old with a median of 19 years old.
Dengue fever is caused by any of the serotypes of dengue virus which are all present in the region and that the viral disease is caused by a day biting female Aedes mosquito that transmits the viral disease to humans.
Austria pointed out the number of dengue cases may peak during the rainy season and may reach widespread proportions if preventive measures of control are not taken by the concerned government agencies and the local government.
By Dexter A. See
