DOH questions declaration of dengue outbreak
If the Cebu Provincial Health Office followed the criteria set by the Department of Health (DOH), the number of dengue cases or incidents in the entire Cebu province is insufficient to justify the declaration of a province-wide outbreak.
In the Kapihan sa PIA forum earlier,Rennen Cimafranca, chief of Regional Epidemiological and Surveillance Unit (RESU-7) said the average percentage of dengue cases in Cebu for the past five years must be at least 10 per cent.
“The criteria of DOH’s Epidemiology Bureau states that in declaring an outbreak, the figures should be stated in percentage, not in actual numbers. What they (PHO) did was to announce the prevalence of dengue in Cebu, in actual numbers. Our records show that the numbers do not constitute a prevalence of dengue but only incidence,” Cimafranca said.
Statistical laws in epidemiology state that prevalence is the proportion of a disease’s effects to a certain population while incidence refers to new cases arising a population over a given period of time.
However, Cimafranca clarified that local government units are not mandated by any law to coordinate and validate their data with DOH’s regional office as a prerequisite in declaring an outbreak.
He also said their office has been concerned on PHO’s recent inactivity in updating new dengue incidents from all district hospitals and Rural Health Units (RHU).
Considering the figures of dengue cases in the province Baltazar Tribunalo Jr., Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) chief, said there is a reason to declare state of calamity.
He said the province needed to declare an outbreak in order to intensify their anti-dengue campaign.
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