دار الخليج

State of calamity declared as dengue cases rise

Manolo B. Jara

MANILA: A state of calamity was declared in Occidental Mindoro province in Southern Luzon due to an alarming rise in dengue cases even as the mosquito-borne disease breached the 90,000 mark on the national level.

The provincial board of Occidental Mindoro made the declaration as 10 of the 11 towns recorded dengue cases. Only the town of Looc remained dengue-free while two other towns – Sablayan and San Jose — were placed under a state of calamity two weeks ago due to a surge in dengue cases.

Provincial health officer, Dr Teresa Tan said the declaration would allow the use of the province’s calamity fund to procure dengue kits among other items to address the problem.

From Jan.1 to July 24, Occidental Mindoro recorded 2,093 cases with 11 deaths.

This developed as the total dengue cases on national level breached the 90,000 mark by affecting a total of 93,343 from Jan. 1 to July 26.

This represented a 118 per cent increase from the 42,299 reported cases for the same period in 2021, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

Central Luzon accounted for most of the cases with 15,950 cases followed by Central Visayas 9,422 and Metro Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR) with 7,962. The DOH said that nine of the country’s 17 regions exceeded the dengue epidemic threshold in the past four weeks.

Mimaropa region in Southern Luzon, and Metro Manila “showed” a sustained increasing trend from June 21 to July 23. A total of 364 deaths had been recorded with most of the fatalities dying in May, 63; June, 77; and July, 56.

Dengue is transferred to humans by a bite of the female mosquito specie of aedes aegypti which breeds in clean water stored in drums, pails, pots, abandoned tires, and empty soda botles.

As a result, Dr Maria Rosario Vergeire, the DOH officer in charge, ordered all public hospitals in the country to create “special lanes” for dengue victims.

Vergeire also urged the public to follow the “4s” strategy to keep dengue out of their lives: Search and destroy breeding places; Secure self protection by wearing for instance, long pants; Seek early medical consultation; and Support fogging /spraying in “hotspot areas.”

Asia / Pakistan

en-ae

2022-08-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://daralkhaleej.pressreader.com/article/281784222874802

Dar AlKhaleej