Fat people more prone to dengue

CEBU CITY — Watch your weight and size.

It may be cumbersome to be fat. But worse, fat people are more prone to dengue.

Dr. Edgar Pangue, assistant city epidemiologist, warned that fat people with hefty side shadows or "bilbil" are more likely to be bitten by mosquitoes which are attracted to the dark area between the side and the shoulders.

Mosquitoes, he said, are also attracted to people with moist skin and those who move around too much.

He said people who move around too much, especially children, disturb the breeding areas of dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

The city health department has been warning residents of dengue after finding out that the number of dengue cases in the city this year has been the highest so far in 10 years, reaching 925 with nine deaths.

Pangue said the figure, compiled from 14 hospitals in the city from Jan. 1 to July 14, is three times higher than last year’s.

The city health department has declared a dengue outbreak in Barangay Guadalupe where 102 cases were reported. — Freeman News Service