Dengue cases shoot up 89% in C. Visayas; Cebu City ranks highest with 1,900 cases

Dengues cases in Central Visayas from January to November  showed an increase of 89 percent from year-ago levels.

With cases  of illness almost doubling and number of deaths reaching 72 compared to only 22 for the same period last year, health officials urged the public to watch out for  insect bites, stagnant pools of water and symptoms of dengue fever.

“Some are taking it for granted and some are not listening to the advisories. Prevention should start at home,” Rennan Cimafranca, Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU-7) told Cebu Daily News.

Monitor reports of  RESU-7 show  there are 11,029 cases with 72 deaths  this year  compared to last year’s 5,844 cases with 22 deaths.

Patients ranged from a 2-day-old infant to a 95 year-old senior. The average age of victims was  14 years old.

Most of the cases occured in  Cebu City, Lapu–Lapu City, Mandaue City and Tagbilaran in Bohol.

Cebu City ranks first in the top 20 municipalities or cities with 1,900 dengue cases  including 14 deaths. For the same period last year, there were only 1,143 cases including 3 recorded deaths in Cebu City.

This year Lapu-Lapu City posted the second highest number of cases in Central Visayas with 543 cases including 7 deaths. Mandaue City is third with 444 cases including 2 deaths and Tagbilaran City in Bohol province was fourth with 395 cases including 3 deaths.

“The figure is alarming but we can’t declare it as epidemic because the cases come from different areas,” he added.

Hotspots in Cebu City included barangays Guadalupe, Tisa, Apas, Labangon and Lahug. For Cebu towns,  hotspots included  poblacion, Daanbantayan and barangay Pandacan, Pinamungajan.

“These are considered hotspots because there are at least two cases reported every other week,” Cimafranca said.

Dengue fever is an acute viral infection that affect infants, young children and adults which is transmitted through the bite of an aedes aegypti mosquito.

Signs and symptoms include high fever which may last from two to seven days, joint and muscle pain, pain behind the eyes, weakness, skin rashes, nose bleeding when fever starts to subside, abdominal pain, vomiting of coffee colored matter, dark colored stools and difficulty of breathing.

There’s no specific medicine yet that can treat dengue.