Rise in CL dengue cases alarms health execs

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Dengue fever cases nationwide may be 58 percent lower than the previous year, but in Central Luzon, cases have swelled by eight percent and health authorities are alarmed.

Dr. Jesse Fantone, regional chief of the epidemiology division of the Department of Health (DOH), told The STAR that since last January, his office has monitored a total of 528 dengue cases in the seven Central Luzon provinces, including three deaths — two in Bulacan and one in Pampanga.

In Barangay Caduang Tete in Macabebe, Pampanga, which used to be dengue-free, at least 10 cases have been reported.

This, after a bus company donated used tires to the municipal government apparently for use of residents in flood-prone areas.

"But it seems that these tires have accumulated stagnant water which is the breeding ground of the Aedes Egypti mosquito which is the carrier of the dengue virus," Fantone said.

He said except for Pampanga, their figures only constitute dengue admissions in government hospitals. Starting this week, the DOH has started "surveillance operations" in private hospitals.

Earlier, Dr. Eric Tayag, an epidemiologist and regional assistant director of the DOH, warned that the number of dengue cases this year could be higher than last year’s in a cycle that peaks every three to four years.

"Unless we watch out and make the necessary preventive measures, we expect dengue cases to sprout this July, or two months after the onset of the rainy season," he said.

Tayag, however, said dengue incidence could be curbed primarily by ridding the environment of clear stagnant water that hosts dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

Fantone said dengue cases in both private and government hospitals in Pampanga have so far reached 250.

The latest DOH figures show that since last January, there have been 88 dengue cases in Nueva Ecija, 71 in Zambales, 48 in Tarlac, 47 in Bataan, 21 in Bulacan, and three in Aurora. These figures, however, only referred to cases in government hospitals.

Fantone said 2004 is the third year of a three- to four-year cycle within which dengue cases peak.

In 2001, he said Central Luzon accounted for majority of nearly 5,000 dengue cases monitored nationwide.