TACLOBAN City and Leyte both recorded the highest number of dengue cases among the seven cities and six provinces in Eastern Visayas as of Friday, February 28, 2020.
Tacloban posted 146 cases while Leyte got 872 cases, according to the Department of Health (DOH) in the region.
“While dengue cases are continually scaling up in the region, let us not be complacent. We need to address the root causes of dengue, and practice preventive and precautionary measures all year round to fight this disease,” said DOH assistant regional director Exuperia Sabalberino.
“I urge everyone to continue all the efforts and to remain vigilant, sustain the gains of the enhanced 4S strategy to keep dengue away,” she added.
Eastern Visayas has a total of 1,861 cases of dengue fever reported for morbidity week 1-8 (January 1-February 22, 2020) with five deaths, with a case fatality rate of 0.27 percent.
The recorded five deaths are from Abuyog, La Paz, Ormoc City, Baybay City and Tacloban.
Also, a total of 42 villages with clustering of cases all over the region were recorded,
This year number of cases are 24 percent lower compared to the same period last year (2,436 cases).
Of the total cases reported, 51 percent (957) are confirmed dengue based on NS1 test, and 91 percent (1,693) of the cases are hospitalized, the health department said in a statement.
With the increasing cases of dengue this year, the DOH-Eastern Visayas Center for Health Development called on the public “to intensify the 4S strategies, through search and destroy mosquito-breeding sites, employ self-protection measures, seek early consultation, support fogging/spraying only in hotspots areas where an increase in cases are registered for consecutive weeks to prevent an impending outbreak.” (SunStar Philippines)