Dengue outbreak declared in Pampanga town

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SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — The Department of Health (DOH) regional office here on Wednesday declared a dengue outbreak in the town of Sta. Rita in this province following the significant increase in the number of cases.

Dr. Jesse Fantone, chief of the DOH’s Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU), said the number of dengue cases in Sta. Rita town went up to 84 cases, including two deaths, from January to September this year.

Fantone said the figure is up by 91 percent compared to only seven cases in the same period last year.

The two fatalities were identified as 7-year-old Mackenzie Rose David and 21-year-old Thea May Quiambao, both from Barangay San Jose, Sta. Rita, who died last September 9.

“We urge the residents to conduct clean-up drives in their respective communities and destroy all possible breeding sites of mosquitoes,” Fantone said.

Despite the outbreak in Sta. Rita town, Fantone said the dengue cases in Central Luzon for the first nine months of the year is lower compared to the same period in 2013.

RESU records showed that the dengue cases in the region from January to September this year total 5,524 – a 47.

6 percent decrease compared to 10,541 in the same period last year.

In Aurora, there is a significant drop in dengue cases with 79 cases in 2014, an 83.7 percent decline as against 486 cases in 2013.

In Bulacan, a total of 1,087 dengue cases were reported in the first nine months of the year as compared to 2,542 cases in the same months last year.

A total of 711 cases in Tarlac were reported this year, a decrease compared to 1,637 cases in 2013.

Likewise, decline in cases of dengue in the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Bataan and Zambales were also noted.

The mortality rate due to dengue cases in the region likewise decreased from 23 in 2013 as against 11 this year.

Fantone attributed the decline in the number of dengue cases in the region to the massive information campaign against the dreaded disease.

He, however, cited the importance of cleaning not only the homes and schools but also places like churches and markets as well as the streets and public playgrounds since one can be exposed to dengue-carrying mosquitoes anywhere.