3 students die of dengue in Isabela

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – Three grade school students reportedly died due to dengue over the week as cases of persons infected by the virus continue to rise in the region.

The Santiago City health office in Isabela declared a citywide dengue outbreak amid the spread of the disease in the city and nearby areas that already claimed the lives of three grade school girls, including that of grade one pupil Francine Obra of Ramon town.

Likewise, classes were suspended for three days over the week in a private elementary school where Obra had been studying amid fears of possible spread of dengue among other schoolchildren.

Santiago City’s dengue outbreak declaration came after 181 cases of dengue had been reported there from January to June with at least two deaths, both girls, recently.

Of this, 67 cases have been reported this month alone, while at least 30 cases were monitored in May, with health officials expressing alarm that cases may increase with the onset of the rainy season.

Dengue epidemic

Health officials said the number of reported cases in the city were remarkably higher than in the same period last year, prompting the declaration of a dengue epidemic throughout the city.

“Since last May, we had already seen a (drastic) increase in dengue cases as a result of the clustering of dengue testing. Because of these incidents, we opted to (declare) a dengue outbreak in the city,” said Dr. Ramonchito Bayang, assistant city health officer.

Said to be more lethal than the equally dreaded A (H1N1) or swine flu virus, dengue is transmitted through insect bites of the Aedes aegypti mosquito species, which thrives in shallow or still water.

Also known as hemorrhagic fever, persons afflicted with dengue suffer prolonged high fever, headache, stomach ache, vomiting, dizziness, loss of appetite and skin rashes, almost similar with symptoms as that of persons suspected to be afflicted with the A (H1N1).

Among the identified dengue hotspots in the city were barangays Balintocatoc, Rizal, Rosario, Victory Norte and Calaocan where most number of cases were recorded.

Alarm over the possibility of a dengue outbreak was also raised in Santiago City’s neighboring southern Cordon town where 17 were recently recorded to have been downed by the dengue virus in one of the town’s villages in less than two weeks alone.

Ramon town, likewise, reported 15 cases since January, including two deaths, that of Obra and a 40-year-old woman.

Already, nearly 400 cases of dengue have been reported in the region since January to date, an increase of 14 percent compared to the same period last year.