DENGUE cases are expected to increase this year and the water crisis being experienced in several parts of the country may just worsen the situation, said the Department of Health (DOH) Friday, March 15.
“Dengue cases are really set to increase as it does every three years. Whatever we do, it goes up (every three years),” said DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III in a press conference.
“And not properly storing water supply can worsen the dengue situation because even little water in certain areas can already serve as breeding ground for mosquitoes that can cause dengue,” he added.
The health chief said this means that people storing water must properly cover their pales and containers or else risk having dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
“This is a practicable, doable solution. Store water properly,” said Duque.
To note, searching and destroying mosquito-breeding sites is one of the components of the 4S strategy versus dengue.
The other three components are self-protection measures like wearing long pants and long sleeved shirts and daily use of mosquito repellent; seeking early consultation; and support fogging/spraying only in hotspot areas.
Based on the latest data of the DOH, there are a total of 40,614 cases of dengue since January 1 until March 2. This is higher than the 24,231 dengue cases during the same period as last year.
The number of deaths this year is also higher at 150.
Last year, during the similar period, the DOH only tallied 118 deaths.
Central Visayas had the most number of dengue cases with 4,498, followed by Calabarzon with 4,253; National Capital Region (NCR) with 4,231; and Caraga with 4,102.
Deaths caused by dengue also saw Central Visayas with the highest number with 29, followed by Cagayan Valley with 17, and NCR with 16.
The age group with the most cases are the 5-9 years old with 10,461 (26 percent), while majority (53 percent) of the victims were males, at 21,530 cases. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)