A CONSIDERABLE drop in the number of dengue cases was recorded in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) this year compared to cases recorded in the same period in 2019.
From January to August 2020, there were 668 cases with two deaths compared to the 5,080 with 11 deaths in 2019.
Nurse 5 Geeny Anne Austria of the Department of Health (DOH)–CAR reported the 86 percent decrease in cases can be attributed to the surveillance or the manner of collecting data based on when individuals are detected of dengue after proceeding to health facilities in the region.
“We have seen a decreasing trend here because possible patients for dengue are not going to health facilities. Another is that last year was the time of the cycle which was really high. This year, we are projecting a decrease in the number of cases but again the trend this year is different having a different characteristic,” Austria said.
Austria added one factor in the decrease of dengue cases is due to the controlled movement of the community.
DOH-CAR hopes that individuals staying in their homes will conduct physical activities that will help eliminate the risk of dengue such as removing breeding sites of mosquitoes.
“We have not seen a trend of dengue cases increasing because a lot of people are into gardening now. We don’t know if they are really exposed or if there are any cases. And since this is the trend at the moment, those doing gardening should removal of breeding sites in their planting activities because, collectively, if we do this altogether, we are answering the problem of inactivity, which dengue mosquitoes prefer by being active and to prevent the chance of having clustered cases and outbreak in our community,” Austria added.
DOH-CAR also reminded the public to proceed to the nearest health facility, particularly, when individuals experience high fever, aside from practicing preventive measures against dengue mosquitoes such as proper diet and increasing resistance against viruses.