News Update Dengue spreading; 5,597 cases reported

Dengue - an infectious tropical disease transmitted by mosquitoes, characterized by headache, fever, pains in the joints, and skin rash - is slowly spreading around the country.A dengue epidemic has already been declared in Davao del Sur which was placed under the state of calamity effective July 7 due to the widespread outbreak of the disease.At least 14 deaths have been reported in the province.Davao del Sur provincial information officer Nilda Aniñon recalled that Davao del Sur was placed under a state of calamity during the 1980s because of the severe impact of the dry season or El Niño."Though this is the second time that the province is declared under a state of calamity, it is the first time it is plagued by a massive dengue incidence," Aniñon said.Davao del Sur was placed under the state of calamity on July 7 during the inaugural Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) session after cases of the dreadful dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) reached 600 cases, already considered an alarming level by the Provincial Health of Office of Davao del Sur.Aniñon said most of the dengue death cases were children.Dengue is transmitted to humans by the Aedes aegypti or more rarely the aedes albopictus mosquito, both of which feed exclusively during day-light hours.The Provincial Health Office also reported that Digos City is the hardest hit among other areas of Davao del Sur with dengue cases to have reached 352.

The municipality of Bansalan ranked second with 95 cases and Sta.Cruz with 57 cases, the rest of the victims are spread out in the various municipalities of the province, Aniñon said.In the Eastern Visayas, local health officials reported 37 deaths out of the 3,862 dengue cases from January to July this year.In the Cordillera region, health officials reported 539 cases for the first half of the year, a sharp increase from the 317 fever reported in the same period last year.Ifugao and Mountain Province registered unusual increases in the number of individuals with dengue fever.For the first six months of this year,

Ifugao recorded 187 dengue fever cases compared to the 25 cases during the same period last year while Mountain Province had over 100 cases this year compared to the 32 cases last year.Aside from the three local governments, Apayao reported increase in dengue cases from 5 cases last year to 64 for the first semester of this year.Dr.