Dengue kills 18 in QC as cases rise by 118%

MANILA, Philippines - The Quezon City Health Department on Friday said that the number of dengue cases in the city has ballooned by 118 percent in the first semester of the year. Antonieta Inumerable, Quezon City health officer II, told GMANews.TV that 1,149 dengue cases had already been recorded from January to July 30 this year. The said figure, she added, is 622 cases more than the one recorded during the same period last year. Even the number of fatalities has more than tripled, with 18 victims succumbing to the virus in the first seven months of 2008, compared to last year's five. The total cases were gathered from the city's 30 considered "dengue hotspots," with Barangay Batasan Hills registering the most number of cases with 63, with two patients dying. Last Friday, a 13-year-old Cainta native, rushed to the Quirino Hospital Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City a few days ago, reportedly succumbed to the dengue virus. Inumerable said they would still conduct an investigation to confirm if the dengue virus was the culprit for the boy's death. "Iimbestigahan namin ang kaso na iyon hindi lang para malaman kung dengue talaga ang kinamatay niya kundi para malaman din kung may iba pang cases sa lugar nila," she said. (We will investigate that case not only to know if the boy died due to dengue but also to know if there are other cases in their neighborhood) Not to worry She admitted that the trend is alarming but assured the local government is "doing its best" to improve the situation. "Syempre nakakabahala iyan, pero kasi ganyan din naman ang trend sa ibang cities. Besides, lumalaki kasi ang population ng Quezon City (That's alarming of course. But that is the trend in most cities. Besides, the population of the city keeps growing)," she said. Quezon City, according to a 2007 census, has a population of almost 2.7 million, the biggest in the country. Inumerable also boasted that the city has been dengue outbreak-free for three years already, with the last declaration of an outbreak being in 2005. She said that more than ever, health officials this year have further intensified their anti-dengue drive, which includes a cleanliness drive as well as a search and destroy operation. Last month alone, they conducted a total of five dengue prevention forums in all the city's four districts, teaching residents how to prevent dengue-carrying mosquitoes from breeding in their homes, backyards and even schools. Role models A specific breed of mosquito called the Aedes aegypti carries the dengue virus, which when introduced to the blood can cause fever, chills, bleeding, and nausea. Aside from unsanitary surroundings, Inumerable also partly blamed the patients and their families for their "health-seeking delay." "Iba diyan, late nang magpapakonsulta. Una, hindi kasi pinapansin dahil ang akala lang ay simpleng lagnat lang (Others do not immediately act when the symptoms appear, thinking it's just a regular case of fever)," the health official said. She said the local government still considers dengue as the city's most serious problem when it comes to diseases. "Ang iba naman kasing sakit like tuberculosis ay controlled. Pero ang dengue, unpredictable (Other diseases like tuberculosis are controlled while the dengue fever is unpredictable)," she explained. However, she lauded several villages in Quezon City which have set perfect examples on how to combat the mosquito-borne disease. In Brgy Payatas, known for its vast dumpsite, no dengue cases have surprisingly been reported. This, Inumerable said, was attributed to the village's "Payatas Dengue Brigade." In Brgy Bagong Pagasa, another dengue case-free village, local officials have appointed "dengue point persons," tasked to ensure cleanliness in their respective turfs and report cases the soonest. Neighbors In July, the Department of Health declared a dengue alert in the four cities directly west of Quezon City. The alert, which covered the Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela) area, was hoisted due to an alarming increase in dengue cases in the cities. The highest spike in dengue cases for the first semester of the year was recorded in the cities of Valenzuela (500%), Navotas (300%), and Caloocan (100%). However, it's not all bad news for the northern portion of Metro Manila since in Marikina City, which lies east of Quezon City, dengue cases had dropped by as much as 50 percent in the first seven months of 2008 compared with the same period last year. Inumerable said other areas in the country can follow in the footsteps of Marikina City, if only they would take the best and simplest weapon against dengue. "Maglinis lang kayo (Just clean your surroundings)." - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV