WV dengue cases hit epidemic level
The Department of Health 6 has appealed to all sectors in Western Visayas to be specific and more focused in their clean-up drive to rid their surrounding of breeding ground for dengue-carrying mosquitoes as the number of cases since January to July 17 this year is more than 55 percent higher during the same period in 2009.
Dr. Jessie Glen Alonsabe of the Department of Health-Center for Health Development 6 Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit their monitoring showed that the incidence of dengue in Western Visayas has already surpassed the alert level and is now “within the epidemic threshold.”
Alonsabe said that the epidemic threshold means that anytime there might be area or areas that will experience an outbreak or are already ripe for an outbreak.
Data from the RESU showed that from January to July 17, 2010 the number of dengue cases recorded were 3,457 with 24 deaths. The figure is 55.16 percent higher compared with the same period last year of 2,228 with 35 casualties.
Based on the RESU monitoring, the highest number of cases was in Negros Occidental with 860, six casualties; Capiz, 837 cases, seven deaths; Iloilo province, 829 cases, seven deaths; Bacolod City has 445; Iloilo City, 207; Aklan, 190; Antique, 55, with one death each, and Guimaras, 33. Guimaras has not reported dengue casualty.
Further, seven barangays have been identified as hotspots or “there are clustering of cases with increasing number of cases in the past four weeks.”
These barangays are Minoyan in Murcia and Su-ay in Himamaylan all in Negros Occidental; Banago, Bata and Singcang in Bacolod City and Lawaan and Banica in Roxas City.
There are also clustering of cases in 38 barangays all over the region. The clustering of cases means that there is “an occurrence of three or more cases in the barangay within the past four weeks.”
Based on the data, majority of the dengue cases are male with 51 percent while the most affected age group belongs to the 1 to 9 age bracket.
He said that the focus of the clean up drive should be to “search and destroy” which means they have to look for breeding places, which are stagnant but clean waters, and get rid of them.
He said that there has to be consistency in the advocacy should not be stopped because the dengue incidence is a “vicious cycle.” PNA
