Thursday, July 24, 2008
Dengue cases in Metro, 9 other regions rise
THE Department of Health (DOH) revealed that 10 of the 17 regions in the country have registered increases in the number of dengue cases during the first five and a half months of the year.
Records of the National Epidemiology Center (NEC) revealed that the National Capital Region (NCR), Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) and the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, Central Visayas, Western Mindanao, and Southern Mindanao tallied higher incidences of the mosquito-borne disease than during the same period last year.
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From the period of January 1 to June 14, Central Luzon had the biggest leap from a lowly 500 cases to 1,647 cases this year for a 229 percent increase.
In Metro Manila, the number of cases grew by 191 percent than last year's 1,583 after it registered a total of 4,612 cases, which is the highest among all regions.
Other regions that had higher number of cases are the Ilocos Region (from 151 to 427); Cagayan Valley (229 - 318); CAR (154 - 226); Calabarzon (1,321 - 2,008); Mimaropa (37 - 68); Central Visayas (1,162 - 1,471); Zamboanga Peninsula (498 - 840); and Davao Region (786 - 1,097).
In the NCR alone, 12 of the 17 cities also registered higher number of cases led by Valenzuela's 667 percent increase (from 43 to 330 cases); Caloocan's 450 percent (103 - 567); Parañaque's 223 percent (63 - 204); and Quezon City's 210 percent (301 - 934).
Other Metro cities that had high number of dengue cases are Las Piñas (30 - 60), Mandaluyong (50 - 131), Manila (327 - 937), Marikina (39 - 108), Navotas (52 - 153), Pasay (86 - 227), Pasig (128 - 312) and Taguig (89 - 228).
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III earlier said the increase in the number of dengue cases may be attributed to the constantly changing climate as well as the congestion of population especially in urban areas.
The total number of cases this year, 15,061, is already 42.8 percent higher than last year's figure, which stood at 10,549.
A total of 172 deaths, or 1.1 percent of the cases, were registered during the same period nationwide, which is almost the same case fatality rate compared to last year's 113 fatalities. (FP/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Iloilo. (July 24, 2008 issue)
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