15 die of dengue fever in Cenral Luzon

ANGELES CITY — Fifteen persons have died of dengue fever in Central Luzon out of the 1,239 cases reported by the regional office of the Department of Health (DOH).

"We expect the figures to rise because of the recent floods in the region," Marilou Pajarillaga, dengue surveillance nurse of the DOH in Central Luzon, told The STAR.

Pajarillaga said latest figures obtained by the DOH indicated that 1,239 persons have been stricken by the mosquito- borne dengue virus since January. Records obtained from 64 sentinel hospitals of the DOH showed 411 cases in Bulacan, 291 cases in Pampanga, 259 in Nueva Ecija, 156 in Zambales, 69, in Bataan, 51 in Tarlac, and two in Aurora.

Pajarillaga noted that there were eight fatalities in Bulacan, four in Zambales, two in Nueva Ecija and one in Pampanga.

The number of dengue cases this year is, however, smaller compared to last year, which recorded 2,031 dengue cases and 13 fatalities. During the same period last year, Bulacan also topped the list of provinces with the most dengue cases with 572, Nueva Ecija and Pampanga had 548 and 456 cases, respectively.

The dengue virus is transmitted by Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes, which breed in stagnant clear water such as rainwater accumulating in cans. Because of this breeding pattern, dengue cases rise during the rainy season.

Pajarillaga attributed the lower dengue cases so far this year to the preparedness of both DOH personnel and local government units. "Local governments waged an early information and awareness drive against dengue, plus the DOH also prepared medications which have been sent to the towns," she said.

She added that initial reports of clustered dengue cases were immediately acted upon by DOH medical personnel so that appropriate measures, including clearing of suspected breeding grounds of dengue mosquitoes, were immediately adopted.

Dengue first became a pandemic in Southeast Asia after World War II and has spread around the globe since then. In Southeast Asia, epidemic dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) first appeared in the 1950s, but by 1975 it had become a frequent cause of hospitalization and death among children in many countries, according to the US Central for Disease Control (CDC).

The CDC said that in 2005, dengue became "the most important mosquito-borne viral disease affecting humans" and that an estimated 2.5 billion people live in areas at risk for epidemic transmission.

"The case-fatality rate of DHF in most countries is about five percent but this can be reduced to less than one percent with proper treatment. Most fatal cases are among children and young adults," the CDC noted.