Dramatic rise in dengue cases in Cebu Prov noted

Old tires are convenient nesting sites of dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
CDN FILE PHOTO

Cebu province experienced a steep rise in the cases of dengue from August to December this year compared to the same period in 2017, the health department announced on Friday.

The Provincial Health Office (PHO) said there were 3,673 cases of dengue reported from August to December 2018 which is almost 2,000 cases higher than the 1,763 cases recorded in the last five months of last year.

The PHO data covered the 50 cities and municipalities of Cebu.

In total, there were 5,093 dengue cases logged for the entire 2018 which is 179 cases higher than the 4,914 recorded in 2017.

The August to December monthly average also went up from 357 in 2017 to 735 this year.

More rains
Tardy Guardiario, the dengue focal person for the PHO, said that the drastic rise in the last five months can be attributed to the rainy season being wetter this year.

“There has been a lot of rains this year compared to last year which also increased the possibility of stagnant waters in some areas especially the lowlands which are often flooded,” said Guardiario.

Naga City has the highest number of dengue cases this year with 405 followed closely by Talisay City with 399.

Guardiario said that Naga may have lost focus in its dengue prevention programs due to the massive landslide that hit the city on September 20.
The tragedy claimed more than 70 lives and displaced at least 400 families.

Naga City, Talisay City, Toledo City, Minglanilla and Liloan grabbed the top 5 slots in the number of dengue cases this year.

“These are urbanized areas and it is quite expected that they will have more cases. There are many areas that stagnant water can accumulate. These places have to strengthen their anti-dengue drive,” said Guardiario.

Guardiario said that the PHO will assess the data to determine the factors that contributed to the drastic rise of dengue cases and the steps to be undertaken to address the problem.

“We will need to rethink our strategies, perhaps, so that next year, we will finally see a decline,” he said.

Deaths decreased
Despite the increase of dengue cases, Guardiario was pleased to announce that dengue-related deaths decreased this year to 25 compared to the 49 deaths in 2017.

“This means that our hospitals are capable of treating the disease and the detection is faster as well,” Guardiario said.

He reminded the public to be vigilant about dengue-carrying mosquitoes and to keep canals and water storages clean.

He also encouraged misting and fogging in the communities to eliminate dengue-carrying mosquitoes.