Dengue Alert

WITH the onset of summer, the number of dengue cases has more than doubled in Metro Manila, tripled in the Ilocos Region, and quadrupled in Central Luzon, the Department of Health (DOH) said Thursday.

Of the three dengue “hot spots” in the country, two were found in Metro Manila: Barangay San Miguel in Pasig City, and Barangay Hen. T. de Leon in Valenzuela City.

In its latest surveillance report, the DOH said dengue cases in the National Capital Region rose by 121.7 percent to 4,399 (from Jan. 1, 2011, to March 19, 2011) from only 1,984 during the same period last year.

In the Ilocos, the number of dengue cases increased by 244.5 percent (from 226 to 788 cases) while those in Central Luzon increased by 316.14 percent (from 632 cases to 2,630 cases).

The spike in dengue cases in these three regions was noted even as the number of cases nationwide went down.

“A total of 14,837 dengue cases were reported to different sentinel hospitals nationwide from Jan. 1 to March 19. This is 4.23 percent lower compared to the same period last year (which had 15,493 cases),” the DOH said.

In Muntinlupa City , the number of dengue cases rose eightfold from just 10 last year to 86 this year. Las Pinas City also saw a 293.75 increase from 48 to 189 cases. In neighboring Parañaque City, the number of cases rose from just 77 in 2010 to 345 this year.

Dengue hot spots are areas were doctors observed a clustering of cases that continued to increase in number for two consecutive weeks.

To fight the spread of the disease, the DOH has been distributing 700,000 mosquito ovicidal/larvicidal trap kits to affected communities with the help of the Department of Science and Technology until December.

“With the additional OL trap kits, we can fully cover all the dengue-prone areas in the country,” said DOST Secretary Mario Montejo.