The Department of Health (DOH) recorded a 68-percent increase in dengue cases in the country compared to last year’s data.
Dengue cases have risen to 208,000 from 124,150 in 2023. Moreover, the Health Department observed a trend showing a 25-percent increase in cases in the past three to four weeks.
Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said this is the agency’s top priority at present, as cases increased more than 40 percent in some areas, such as Region III (Central Luzon), Region VI (Western Visayas), and Region VII (Central Visayas).
“These three regions have reported a state of calamity due to an increase of cases resulting in hospitals being full,” Herbosa said in Filipino, adding the National Capital Region (NCR) has increasing cases but not as big as the said three regions.
Despite the increase in dengue cases, the Health Department highlighted the fatality rate has decreased to 0.26 percent, compared to 0.39 percent last year.
The Health Secretary advised the public to clean their areas, especially during the rainy season, adding that vector control or eradicating the number of mosquitoes will address the number of dengue cases.
“We are distributing larvicide and adulticide in our regional offices to decrease the numbers of mosquitoes. It is also important to find where are they nesting, such as old tires, buckets, and clogged rain gutters of houses,” Herbosa said.
