The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday reported that its latest cumulative data from January 1 to August 8, 2015, showed that the number of dengue cases in the country increased by 9.15 percent compared to the same period last year.
According to DOH Spokesman Dr. Lyndon Lee-Suy, a total of 55,079 suspected dengue cases were collected from all the regions in the country. Such figure was higher compared to just 50,462 reported cases during the same period of 2014.
Dr. Lee-Suy said Region 4A (Calabarzon or Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) has the highest number of dengue cases at 8,351.
Next to Region 4A is Region 3 (Central Luzon) with 7,165 cases, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) with 6,090 cases; Region 10 (Northern Mindanao), 4,813 cases; and Region 2 (Cagayan Valley), 4,110 cases.
Data from the agency’s Epidemiology Bureau on Public Health Surveillance Division from the different regions that reported the cases showed the majority of the victims were males aged 5-14 years.
The DOH spokesman noted that the number of deaths resulting from dengue cases was placed at 0.31 percent.
He said the number of cases might appear high at a glance because the data was cumulative, meaning the cases occurred in the different months or not simultaneously happening.
With this, the DOH official once again reminded the public to keep their surroundings clean in order to eliminate breeding sites of mosquitoes, the carrier of the disease.
He also said that as people attempt to store water because of water-service interruption, there is a need to ensure that they are storing them in covered containers or drums in order to prevent this disease-carrying insect from finding suitable breeding sites.
An infected daytime female Aedes aegypti mosquito transmits the viral disease to humans.
Among the signs and symptoms of dengue are sudden onset of high fever, which may last from two to seven days; joint and muscle pain behind the eyes; weakness; skin rashes, nose bleeding when fever starts to subside; vomiting of colored-coffee matter; dark-colored stools and difficulty in breathing.
The DOH advises people to immediately consult a doctor should they experience fever for more than two days so that they can be given early medication.