Makati reports 58% drop in dengue cases

MANILA, Philippines - The Makati Health Department (MHD) on Tuesday reported a 58-percent drop in the number of dengue cases reported in the city from January to August this year as compared to the same period last year.

In a report to Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay, MHD chief Dr. Diana Jocelyn Vaño said dengue cases in the city from January to August this year was reported at 80 cases as compared to the 191 cases reported for the same period last year.

The MHD credited the significant drop to the sustained cleanup drive at the barangay level and to the clearing of waterways, classrooms, school grounds, households and other public facilities which could serve as breeding grounds for dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

Vaño said the Ospital ng Makati (OsMak) reported the highest number of cases at 61, while private hospitals and barangay health centers reported 10 and nine cases, respectively. To date, there has only been one fatality from dengue reported – a seven-year-old boy from Barangay East Rembo.

Vaño added that with the sustained dengue prevention and control measures in place, the number of dengue cases will remain lower than last year’s. She also expressed hope that there will be no more fatalities from dengue. Last year, MHD recorded a total of five deaths from dengue fever.

The latest MHD report showed the ages of dengue-stricken patients ranged from three to 57 years of age, with ages 1 to 10 as the most affected age group at 43 percent of the total cases reported.

In 2011, the city launched a synchronized dengue prevention campaign involving the MHD, the Department of Environmental Services, Liga ng mga Barangay of Makati, in collaboration with the Department of Education-Makati, Department of Health and Department of Science and Department of Science and Technology.

To facilitate detection and management of dengue cases, the MHD has put in place express lanes in the health centers. It has also continuously conducted lectures on dengue and its prevention especially in at-risk communities, such as those near waterways.