Dengue cases highest in Central Visayas – health officials

Philippines also has highest number of dengue cases in all of ASEAN

The Aedes mosquito

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Dengue cases are on the rise in the region and the whole country as healthcare professionals strengthened their campaign against the mosquito-borne disease.

Dr. Ronald Limchiu and Dr. Ellaine Nielo shared the dengue situations in local and national levels in a roundtable discussion in Cebu City on Wednesday, organized by the Philippine Pediatric Society Inc. Central Visayas Chapter (PPS-7).

Nielo said in her presentation that Central Visayas recorded the highest number of dengue cases from January 1 to November 9, 2024, surpassing the National Capital Region, with 33,651 cases. The data was obtained from the Department of Health (DOH) Epidemiology Bureau.

Meanwhile, Limchiu said that the Philippines had the highest dengue cases among ASEAN countries as of November 16, 2024, with 304,860 cases, followed by Indonesia with 202,012 cases, and Malaysia with 106,773 cases.

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Make dengue top health priority

In Cebu Province and its highly urbanized cities, the number of cases for the whole month of October reached 3,298.

Of the number, 76 cases were aged less than 1 year old; 688 were aged 1-5 years old; 1,000 were aged 6-10 years old; 614 were 11-15 years old; 323 were 16-20 years old; and 597 were 21 years old and above.

Moreover, out of 3,298, Cebu City logged the highest number of cases with 700, followed by Lapu-Lapu City with 406, and Mandaue City with 185 cases.

Nielo said that dengue surveillance is significant as healthcare professionals want to detect outbreaks before they actually happen.

“We want to understand epidemiological trends. Are the children more affected? Is it the adolescents now? Is it the older age group? We want to be able to allocate resources where there are hotspots, and that’s why we declare outbreaks,” Nielo added.

Nielo said that they also want to guide public health interventions, evaluate the control measures that they have in place, enhance community awareness and community engagement, support the research and development that goes into making sure that the public are able to prevent the illness or cure it if it occurs, and for policy development.