NAGDEKLARA ang Department of Health (DOH) ng national dengue alert sa harap naman ng nakakaalarmang pagtaas ng mga kaso ng dengue sa maraming rehiyon.
Sinabi ni DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III na mula Enero 1 hanggang Hunyo 29, 2019, nakapagtala na ng kabuuang 106,630 kaso ng dengue sa buong bansa, 85 porsiyento na mas mataas kumpara sa naitalang 57,564 kaso sa kahalintulad na panahon.
“This is the first time that we’re declaring a national alert. Because the objective is very clear. We want to raise awareness among the public and more importantly, in communities where signs of early dengue increases are evident,” Duque pointed out.
Duque clarified there is no national epidemic as the cases of dengue are localized.
“We don’t have a national epidemic. It’s localized. As I have mentioned, the top among the regions would be Western Visayas, followed by Calabarzon, Central Visayas, Soccsksargen and Northern Mindanao. There is no national epidemic but there is certainly regional,” sabi ni Duque.
Idinagdag ni Duque na lumagpas na rin sa epidemic threshold nag limang rehiyon.
Kabilang sa mga minomonitor na rehiyon ang Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon, Bicol region, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Davao region, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at Cordillera Administrative Region.
Napagtala ang Western Visayas ng pinakamaraming kaso ng dengue na may kabuuang 13,164, na sinundan ng Calabarzon (11,474 kaso), Central Visayas (9,199 kaso), Soccsksargen (9,107 kaso) at Northern Mindanao (8,739 kaso).
“Dengue is a viral disease with no known vaccine or specific antivirals,” sabi pa ni Duque.
“Effective surveillance can also help in reducing cases and deaths if areas with clustering of cases are identified early.”