Health chief to public: Do not underestimate dengue

MANILA, Philippines - Health Secretary Enrique Ona yesterday urged the public not to underestimate dengue or it will be here to stay.

In an interview over radio dzRH, Ona said the huge increase in dengue cases this year should not be taken in stride. 

“It’s really a cause for concern. Dengue is actually an old disease that affects tropical countries,” Ona said.

He noted that during the ASEAN Health Minister’s Meeting in Singapore last July, dengue was one of the leading concerns because of the huge number of cases in some member countries.

The nations that reported high incidence of dengue are the Philippines, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

Because of this, ASEAN members have agreed to observe a Dengue Day starting next year to highlight dengue control programs.

Ona added that dengue should drive everyone to clean their surroundings regularly to eliminate the breeding sites of mosquitoes and illness-causing waste materials.

“It should become a habit for us to clean our communities if we want to effectively defeat dengue. The spread of dengue depends on our sanitation practices,” he said in Filipino.

From Jan. 1 to Sept. 4, the DOH had recorded a total of 77,012 dengue cases and this is 108.8 percent higher than the 36,877 cases reported during the same period last year.

The death tolls are at 383 and 534 in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

According to DOH chief epidemiologist Dr. Eric Tayag, a declining trend has already been observed every week since last week of August.

“It may go down slowly but our goal is to effect an abrupt decrease through effective vector control. But the DOH cannot do that without the cooperation of those in the community,” Tayag added.