DOH sees fewer dengue cases this year

MANILA, Philippines - Dengue cases are expected to be fewer this year due to the circulation last year of all four dengue strains from which many Filipinos have acquired immunity, the Department of Health (DOH) said.

In an interview, DOH Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag said that dengue 1, 2, 3 and 4 serotypes were equally predominant last year. This means many Filipinos have acquired life-long immunity from any of these viruses.

Last year, the DOH recorded 204,906 dengue cases in the whole country, the biggest number of cases reported since an outbreak in 1998.

While the circulation of the four strains in 2013 led to a high number of cases, it could lessen the chance of a person developing dengue, Tayag said.

While none of the four strains is more virulent than the other, there are one or two strains that become predominant every year. An infection with one serotype results in immunity from this strain for life.

“We still do not know which strain will be predominant, but we don’t expect to see many cases this year. In fact this year, we have around 174 cases ever day from January to March and this is a remarkable reduction compared to last year,” he added.

DOH records showed that from Jan. 1 to March 21, there were 15,374 dengue cases nationwide, including 62 deaths. This is 51 percent lower compared to the same period in 2013.

But World Health Organization country representative Julie Hall said there should be no room for complacency when it comes to dengue and chikungunya, another mosquito-borne disease.

She said eliminating the breeding sites of mosquitoes is not only the job of health authorities but those in the environment, school, local government and community sectors as well.

“We know that in many areas of the Philippines, the dengue season is yet to come this year. So all of these sectors will need to continue working throughout the year, day in, day out,” she added.

Hall lauded the DOH’s anti-dengue campaign “4 o’clock habit” where the public is encouraged to look for breeding sites of mosquitoes and destroy these when 4 p.m. strikes. She said many countries, in fact, want to copy this program to combat mosquito-borne diseases.