Dengue kills boy, 6
A six-year-old boy from Tubungan, Iloilo died of dengue hemorrhagic fever even as cases are already decreasing in the province.
The latest casualty is among the 32 deaths and 6 440 dengue cases recorded by the Iloilo Provincial Health Office as of Nov. 20, 2010.
Most of the deaths were monitored in towns of Pototan, Guimbal, Cabatuan, Calinog, Janiuay, Dingle, Leon, Banate, and Oton, and Passi City.
Dr. Ma. Socorro Quinon, chief of IPHO, said the six-year-old boy was confined on November 8 and died 10 days later.
Quinon said dengue patients confined in provincial and district hospitals have decreased compared to the high number of cases in August.
Still, the IPHO is encouraging the public to maintain cleanliness of their surroundings because dengue-carrying mosquitoes are still around.
Dengue fever is transmitted by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. These are day-biting mosquitoes that breed in clear, stagnant waters.
“The public must be wary of dengue and follow government measures to contain this disease even if there are only few cases monitored in Iloilo province,” she said.
The decreasing dengue case should not be a reason for the public to be complacent, Quinon said.
“Everybody should observe self-protection and environmental cleanliness,” she added.*
