Repeat of 1998 dengue epidemic feared

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday expressed concern that the dengue epidemic that hit the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries in 1998 will be repeated if the current trend of dengue cases in the region will continue.

“So after 12 years of hiatus, the region is having the same problem on dengue. In fact the World Health Organization (WHO) is intent on making sure that countries are able to share dengue information on a timely and accurate basis because this will be the common disease that will be monitored in the region,” said Dr. Eric Tayag, DOH chief epidemiologist.

Tayag said the soaring dengue cases in Southeast Asia were primarily caused by the El Niño phenomenon that affected some countries in the region. 

The 1998 dengue outbreak was also triggered by El Niño, which was also experienced by most countries in the region from mid-2009 to May this year.

“This year, the number of dengue cases in the country is relatively higher compared to other years because of El Niño. In 1998, experts explained that mosquitoes during an El Niño become smaller so they bite more frequently and that the virus takes shorter to develop in infected mosquitoes and that’s why dengue spreads faster during El Niño,” Tayag said.

During El Niño, he said people tend to store water in containers that are not covered so they become breeding sites of dengue-causing Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes.

In 1998, the Philippines recorded some 38,000 dengue cases, but these swelled to more than 57,000 the following year. This year, the number of cases may rise to 70,000 if the current trend will not be curbed.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona said dengue was one of the leading topics in the recent ASEAN Health Ministers Meeting in Singapore.  

“I was surprised. Dengue is not only very high in incidence in the Philippines but also all over Asia,” Ona said.      

The countries that reported high dengue cases are Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Dengue is not a problem in “high but cold” countries like Japan, China and Korea.

But Tayag revealed that since dengue has become a year-round health concern for the Philippines, the DOH would study the possibility of the country developing its own vaccine against dengue.

Tayag said dengue has spread in 22 of the 26 barangays in Digos, Davao del Sur, with 213 cases reported, including 12 deaths, as well as in Sta. Margarita, Samar with 14 cases, including one death. 

DOH records show that from Jan. 1 to July 17 this year, there had been 31,735 cases, 33.8 percent higher than during the same period last year.

The DOH is monitoring several barangays in 43 provinces where there has been clustering of dengue cases.