Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Health execs probe latest dengue strain
By Danilo V. Adorador III
WHETHER a new strain of dengue fever has already entered Northern Mindanao is a question that left health officials here in the dark.
Dr. David Mendoza, head of the Regional Epidemiology Center of the Department of Health (DOH)-Northern Mindanao, said only the National Capital Region has the capability to detect the different types of dengue strain, including the virulent one.
Health officials said the current dengue type experienced in the country since year 2005 is type 1, but DOH expects a new type in 2008 since hemorrhagic dengue fever has a three-year cycle.
Dr. Eric Tayag, head of the DOH-National Epidemiology Center, said there are four strains of dengue fever namely Type 1, 2, 3, and 4 but the second one is the virulent.
Tayag said he received reports of finding type 3 dengue fever strain from blood samples they received from their patients. He said hospital officials are yet to confirm this finding.
Mendoza said the same strain may have already entered the region, but that they lack equipment to detect it.
"If you're infected with type 1 dengue, there is a possibility that you can also be infected with the other three variants, which are usually fatal," he told Sun.Star in a text message Tuesday.
Bleeding
The health department's website, www.doh.gov.ph, describe dengue hemorrhagic fever as an acute infectious viral disease usually affecting infants and young children.
It is characterized by fever during the initial phase and other symptoms like headache, pain in the eye, joint pain, muscle pain, and others, followed by signs of bleeding such as petechiae (red tiny spots on the skin), nose bleeding and gum bleeding.
Aedes Aegypti, the transmitter of the disease is a day-biting mosquito that lays eggs in clear water container, such as flower vases, cans, rain barrels, old rubber tires, etc. The adult mosquitoes rest in dark places of the house.
Similar decline
As of September, Cagayan de Oro recorded 259 dengue cases--the highest among the eight cities in Northern Mindanao--but still far below the 1,292 figure recorded in the same period in 2005.
The cities of Gingigoog (46 cases), Iligan (18), Malaybalay (8), Orquieta 93), Ozamiz City (33), Tangub (18), and Valencia (10) also experienced similar decline.
Cagayan de Oro Councilor Simeon Licayan attributed the decrease to the "aggressive information campaign against dengue and the preventive measures we have installed even before the rainy months."
Misamis Oriental topped the region's five provinces, recording 406 cases as of this month compared to 2,007 of the same period last year.
Dengue cases in the remaining four provinces have also decreased, with a difference from last year's figure of 414 cases in Bukidnon, 36 cases in Misamis Occidental, 568 in Lanao del Norte, and 179 in Camiguin.
With nine deaths and 571 cases, Northern Mindanao posted a case fatality ratio (CFR) of 1.2 percent, one of the lowest in the national figure. Last year, it recorded a 2.3 percent CFR or 80 deaths, with a whooping 3,469 cases--ranking the third highest in dengue cases nationwide. (With reports from Sunnex)
(September 27, 2006 issue)
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