CCHD official says it is high time to carefully restudy effectiveness of dengue vaccines
Dr. Ilya Tac-an, head of the Cebu City Epidemiology, Surveillance, Research, and Infection Control Division.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Amid the rising number of dengue cases in Cebu, an official of the Cebu City Health Department said it is high time to assess the effectiveness of various dengue vaccines.
In an online forum hosted by the MyTv on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, Dr. Ilya Tac-an, head of the Cebu City Epidemiology, Surveillance, Research, and Infection Control Division, said she personally believes that a vaccine against dengue is an effective measure to help curb its spread.
“Personally, I really believe nga mag-vaccinate na ta for dengue. In fact, there are a lot of studies, ongoing na siya nga development of the vaccine, and I think, sa monitoring lang, effective man jud pod siya and dapat man gani nga if naa tay EUA (emergency use authorization) for COVID, it is better pod also if we can do that for dengue,” she said.
“Siguro ang maayo lang ang tama nga proseso ug dili dinali-dali,” she added.
Tac-an said that the City noted a slight decrease in its dengue hospitalization this week compared to the previous weeks, though they expect that the recorded number of dengue cases could possibly increase once they intensify reporting of cases at the community level.
“Katong muingon ko nga niminos, ang hospital cases pa lang to. But if we include ang atong community surveillance, of course, makakita sad tag febrile cases although it doesn’t mean nga dengue na na siya,” she said.
During the febrile phase in dengue, patients develop high-grade fever suddenly; this phase usually lasts two days to one week and is often accompanied by facial flushing, skin erythema, generalized body ache, muscle ache, and headache.
As of July 2022, the total number of reported cases in the City is already at 1,812, Tac-an said.
As dengue cases often increase every three years, Tac-an said the latest statistics for the year 2022 show that is higher than last year.
“Ang dengue is cyclical nga every three years ang saka niya, so if we compare it last year, muingon ta nga taas na jud ta kaayo. But if we compare in 2019 or the past five years, mas nisaka siya but dili g’yod ingon nga taas kaayo,” she said.
“But, it doesn’t mean nga kung dili pa taas kaayo, we don’t do anything. Our experiences also have shown nga ang atoang intervention effective siya kung sustained lang unta,” she added.
Residents are also urged to take advantage of the dengue fast lanes that are being established in the City’s various health care facilities. /rcg
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