4 barangays declared dengue hotspots

MANILA, Philippines – Barely three weeks since the rainy season started, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday there are now four barangays in Metro Manila that are “hotspots” for dengue.

“The number of areas where there are clustering of cases is starting to increase. In fact there are four areas that are already hotspots for dengue,” said Dr. Manuel Mapue, DOH regional medical dengue coordinator for Metro Manila.

The four “hotspots” are Barangay 176 in Caloocan City; Barangay Pinagbuhatan in Pasig City; Commonwealth in Quezon City and Tañong in Malabon City.

The clustering of cases, on the other hand, was observed in four barangays in Malabon City; one each in Caloocan, Manila, and Las Piñas; three each in Parañaque and Pasig; two each in Taguig and Pasay; 13 in Quezon City; and five in Valenzuela.

“We consider it as a hotspot if there is an increase in cases in an area in two weeks’ time while there is clustering if there are three or four cases in an area in four weeks’ time,” Mapue said.

DOH records show that from Jan. 1 to June 2, there were 7,396 dengue cases reported in Metro Manila. Quezon City accounted for 2,064 of them; followed by Manila with 1,294; Caloocan City with 794; Parañaque with 504; Pasig City with 474 and Valenzuela City with 358.

There have been 30 deaths and 4,271 of the cases involve patients 15 years old and younger while 2,470 patients belonged to the 15 to 30 age group.

“Overall, the number of cases in Metro Manila is still lower by six percent than the 7,863 cases last year. But among the 17 local government units here, there are six LGUs where cases are higher than last year’s,” Mapue said.

He underscored the need for the public to eliminate any possible breeding sites of mosquitoes to prevent the spread of dengue.

Mapue added the common denominator in areas affected by dengue is that “they are densely populated … and there are some questions in sanitation.”