Dengue red alert remains in Tarlac; more cases reported

TARLAC CITY — Local health officials here have raised a "red alert" on the spread of the dengue fever after noting that there have been more than 200 reported cases for the past month.

In an update on the spread of the mosquito-born disease, the provincial epidemiology and surveillance unit (PESU) of the Provincial Health Office (PHO) said that there have been 285 reported cases of dengue infection since June this year.

During the month of June, PHO chief, Dr. Ricardo Ramos, said there were only 66 reported dengue fever cases in the province. But between July and the first week of August, some 219 cases were monitored in public and private hospitals, as well as clinics.

Two were reported to have died during the year due to dengue.

As in previous years, Ramos said that this city and the towns of Capas and Concepcion have the most cases of dengue illnesses. He attributed this to the fact that these areas are more populated than the rest of the province.

Most of the patients admitted for treatment are children, with some as young as five months, while the oldest was 53 years old.

The average age of those infected by the fever is 15 years old.

At the same time, Gov. Jose Yap Sr. has directed the PHO to ensure that government hospitals in the province have sufficient supply of medicines to treat dengue patients, although Ramos has assured that "we are on top of the situation and we would be able to contain the spread of the dengue fever in the next few days."

Nonetheless, the governor has issued a directive for the PHO to coordinate with the city health office here, as well as the 17 municipal health offices in the province, to cooperate with barangay officials in establishing "anti-dengue brigades," which will be under the umbrella of the Provincial Anti-Dengue Task Force. — Benjie Villa