La Union under state of calamity due to dengue cases

SAN FERNANDO, La Union, Philippines – The provincial board, headed by Vice Gov. Aureo Nisce, yesterday placed the province under a state of calamity due to the big number of dengue cases in the province.

Engineer Rolando Lesitona, dengue coordinator of the provincial health office, told The STAR that four dengue deaths have been recorded among the 1,152 cases from January to Sept. 15 this year. 

“(The number of dengue cases) is already very high and our hospitals are now overflowing with patients,” Lesitona said.

Provincial board members decided to declare a state calamity to allow the provincial government to use the calamity fund to purchase additional equipment and put up facilities as mitigating measures against the disease.

Lesitona said they have beefed up information dissemination on “search and destroy operations” against mosquito-breeding places to prevent further increase in the number of dengue cases.

Meanwhile, dengue deaths in the Ilocos region have reached 32, among 2,967 cases, based on records gathered by The STAR.

Dr. Valeriano Lopez Jr., regional director of the Department of Health (DOH), said dengue cases in the region from Jan. 1 to Sept. 10 showed an increase of 20 percent compared to the 2,144 cases during the same period last year.

Based on data from the DOH’s Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit, 1,464 cases were admitted in government hospitals, 1,005 in private hospitals and 104 in various rural health units.

Valeriano said La Union has the highest number of reported cases with 1,152, followed by Ilocos Norte with 734, Pangasinan with 533, and Ilocos Sur with 550.

Of the 32 reported deaths, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte had 11 each; Pangasinan, six; and La Union, four.

Data showed that the age range of dengue patients was from less than a month old to 88 years old. Most commonly affected was the five to nine age bracket, and males accounted for 52.8 percent of the cases.