Dengue claims 3rd victim in Cebu province

CEBU, Philippines – While the dreaded influenza A(H1N1) has already taken its first victim in the country, and in the South East region, the deadlier dengue has already taken its third victim in just six months in the province of Cebu.

The latest dengue death was a five-year-old girl from Barangay Palanas in Alcantara town who died last June 12. This was the tenth dengue case of the municipality.

The recent death was already the third dengue fatality since January 2009. The first death was from the municipality of Sibonga and the second came from Oslob.

According to the Provincial Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit, Minglanilla and Oslob remain on top of the list of towns with most number of dengue cases in the province. Dr. Kathy Buscato of PESU said this based on their recent reports from the different municipalities in the province.

Both Minglanilla and Oslob have 28 dengue cases out of the 173 cases that were recorded from January to April this year in Cebu province. Danao follows with 18, Naga with 16 and Talisay City with 10 cases.

Despite the outbreak of the A(H1N1), the Department of Health Region 7 has always warned the people to be more concerned of dengue. This is because dengue is more deadlier having a fatality rate of 3 percent compared to A(H1N1) which has only a fatality rate of 1 percent. — Barbara Anne B. Ocaba, STC Masscom Intern/WAB (THE FREEMAN)