Dengue alert level in NCR, Ilocos nears ‘epidemic threshold’

In a television interview on Monday, DOH Undersecretary Eric Domingo said the department is closely monitoring the two regions because they are now “above the alert level and nearing the epidemic threshold”. (File Photo: Department of Health (Philippines)/Facebook)

MANILA — An official of the Department of Health (DOH) urged residents in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Region 1 (Ilocos) to be more vigilant in fighting dengue as both areas have already entered the “alert threshold”.

In a television interview on Monday, DOH Undersecretary Eric Domingo said the department is closely monitoring the two regions because they are now “above the alert level and nearing the epidemic threshold”.

“Alert level meaning, you’re seeing cases more than the average cases in the past five years and there’s a higher threshold, this is the epidemic, this is way higher than we’re expecting for that area. For the past few months, they were below the alert threshold, but now the cases are going up,” Domingo added.

He said Region 4-A (Calabarzon), Region 4-B (Mimaropa), Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and Regions 5 (Bicol), 6 (Western Visayas), 7 (Central Visayas), 8 (Eastern Visayas), 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula), 10 (Northern Mindanao), and 12 (Soccsksargen), remain in the epidemic threshold.

According to the DOH-Epidemiology Bureau, about 167,606 dengue cases were recorded from January 1 to July 27, 2019.

“These cases equate to a 98 percent increase in January to July 2019 compared to the same period last year. Dengue, as we know, has ups and downs, it usually goes with two years low burden and the third year becomes a high burden, and 2019 is proving to be that,” Domingo said, adding that the same trend is true for other Asian countries like Malaysia and Thailand.

Citing that rain patterns affect the breeding of dengue-carrying mosquitoes, Domingo urged the public to make their surroundings clean and keep their children protected all the time.

“The dengue mosquito does not travel far, but because of the because of wind factor, they can travel two to three more blocks. That’s why we say if there is clustering in your barangay, say yes to selective fogging because we know that the mosquitoes are concentrated in that certain area,” he said.

On August 6, the DOH launched the Sabayang 4-o’clock Habit to raise awareness and encourage the community to do its share and take time to weed out dengue breeding sites at 4 p.m. every day.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III urged other government agencies, local government units, schools and communities to conduct the “4-o’clock habit para deng-get out!” vector control program to effectively address the national epidemic.

“The pattern of dengue in the Philippines starts in July, and it stays up there until November because even after the rain stops there’s still water for two to three weeks where mosquitoes breed, the cases only go down by December. Awareness is really key,” Domingo said.

Stressing that early diagnosis and treatment improve the survival rate of dengue victims, Domingo reported the DOH have downloaded funds to provide help especially those in the epidemic areas.

“We also made sure that our resources are prepositioned like the medicines and testing kits in the region, and of course, activated the dengue fast lanes in the hospitals and we’ve opened dedicated hospitals for dengue and referral centers,” he said.

Domingo added increased dengue cases can be expected in September and October.

“Mga Nobyembre na maaring bumaba ‘yan (It (number of dengue cases) may go down in November,” he said.