SAN FERNANDO, La Union, Philippines – The provincial board of La Union yesterday placed the province under a state of calamity due to an upsurge in dengue cases.
The board, headed by Vice Governor Aureo Nisce, was informed by Dr. Hector Beñas, provincial health officer, that dengue cases in the province, as of last Monday, had reached 2,030 with seven deaths, including a 21-year-old female nursing student and a young doctor.
Records show this city had the most number of cases, followed by the towns of Bauang, Balaoan and San Juan.
Other places are also grappling with the dengue problem.
Citing field reports, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council executive director Benito Ramos said 456 Antipolo residents had contracted dengue, six of them, all from Barangay Cupang, succumbing to the mosquito-borne disease.
Dengue is taking its toll on children who crowd the Region 1 Medical Center in Dagupan City, which has already recorded 653 cases with six deaths so far this year.
Seventy-five percent of the admissions at the hospital’s pediatric ward in the past three months were dengue cases, said Dr. Roland Mejia, the hospital director.
Bulacan authorities have stepped up their dengue watch as cases swelled to 2,086 from January to August, or a four-fold increase from the same period last year. – With Dino Balabo, Eva Visperas, Alexis Romero