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Sunday, June 27, 2004
Health exec warns public on rise of dengue cases
By Minerva Zamora-Arceo
SAN FERNANDO -- A health official warned the public on the expected increase of dengue cases this year following the virus' cycle that peaks every three to four years.
Dr. Eric Tayag, Department of Health (DOH) Central Luzon assistant director, told reporters recently that 2004 could be a "bad year" in terms of dengue cases.
"Unless we watch out and make the necessary preventive measures, we expect Dengue cases to sprout this July, or two months after the onset of the rainy season," Tayag said.
He, however, said 90 percent of the dengue-related deaths could be prevented if the public ensures cleanliness and destroy possible breeding sites of the virus carrying-mosquitoes.
Tayag said DOH recorded a high number of dengue cases last year, particularly in Central Luzon, three years after a peak in the chart. But the pattern this time could be every fours years, so DOH expects a real peak in the last quarter of 2004.
He also expressed fear that the fourth strain of the dengue virus might show up this year.
He said only the three strains were recorded last year.
"If strain four occurs this year, more people would be vulnerable, including those who have survived the three strains," he said.
This early, Tayag urged local governments to launch a massive information campaign on dengue fever to prevent any eventuality of a worse dengue scenario.
According to Tayag, dengue virus-carrying mosquitoes usually bite early in the morning or before sunset and not during nighttime when other type of mosquitoes do.
He advised everyone to seek immediate medical treatment should symptoms of the dengue fever persist.
Tayag also advised doctors not to immediately resort to blood transfusion, saying that such measure is "not necessarily the remedy in dengue cases." He explained that blood transfusion triggers "fluid to escape from capillaries."
Tayag said in mild cases, fluid replacement could be done to effectively cure the victim but monitoring is also needed since there is danger of overloading the capillaries with fluid.
He added that using chemicals in fogging and fumigation activities, usually done by LGUs, is not also advisable because it is often less effective and even detrimental to the environment.
(June 27, 2004 issue)
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