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Thursday, April 21, 2005
Dengue kills 8; number of cases up 64%
By Linette C. Ramos
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
HEALTH officials are bracing for a surge in the number of dengue cases as the disease claimed eight lives, all children, in Cebu City alone from January to March this year.
The dengue virus affected 257 Cebu City residents so far, a 64.6 percent increase in the number of cases this year compared to the same period last year.
The fatalities were children ages one to nine years old. Most of the 257 cases are from the upland barangays.
The Cebu City Health Department (CHD) said that in the same period last year, only 166 individuals were affected, three of which resulted in death.
In a phone interview yesterday, CHD assistant epidemiologist Edgar Pangue said they are expecting an increase in the number of cases this year because of the El Niño phenomemon.
Breeding site
Since there is a shortage of water, especially in the mountain barangays, residents are most likely to store water in containers, a breeding site for dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
“We are anticipating the number of cases will continue to increase because of the dry spells. We observed that it is during the dry season when cases go up, especially in the rural areas where water is scarce,” Pangue told Sun.Star Cebu.
If there is a need to store water, Pangue urged the public to cover their containers so as not to create a breeding site for the mosquitoes.
He added it was during the El Niño phenomenon in 1998 and 1999 when Central Visayas experienced a dengue outbreak.
While Cebu City residents are already aware about the preventive measures to counter the dengue virus, Pangue lamented the community is sometimes lax in implementing them.
The Department of Health 7 also identified Cebu City as having the most number of dengue cases in Central Visayas, followed by Mandaue City, which reported a total of 55 cases for the first quarter of this year.
Talisay City ranked third with 42 cases, as reported to the Regional Anti-Dengue Task Force during their meeting last Tuesday. (LCR)
(April 21, 2005 issue)
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