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CEBU CITY: Central Visayas ranks second to Metro
Manila in regions with the highest number of dengue cases in the
country, a senior Department of Health (DOH) Region 7 official said.
DOH Region 7 assistant director
Lakshmi Legaspi said on the list of cities, Cebu City also ranked
second to Manila.
The Cebu City Council earlier
declared the city under a state of calamity and allocated at least
P5 million to combat the spread of the mosquito-borne disease and
treat those infected with dengue.
“Hopefully, Cebu City and
Central Visayas will never reach the top spot,” said Rennan
Cimafranca of the Regional Epidemoiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU)
Region 7.
The National Epidemiology Center
(NEC) of the DOH has issued a nationwide alert against dengue
hemorrhagic fever especially during the rainy months of September
and October.
Dengue epidemics came into the
Southeast Asian scene in the 1950s, the Department of Science and
Technology (DOST) reported in its website.
By 1975, it became the primary
cause of death among children in the region.
In 2006, the Philippines topped
in Southeast Asia as the country with the most number of dengue
cases, DOST reported, quoting a World Health Organization report.
The Philippines recorded 21,537
dengue cases and 280 deaths from January to October 2006.
The dengue alert was issued after
more than 4,000 dengue cases were reported throughout the country as
of the second week of September, bringing a total 24,689 cases of
the mosquito-borne disease since January. There are already 283
deaths.
The dengue virus has already
affected Cebu City’s 73 out of 80 barangays. A total of 1,000
individuals, mostly children aged six to 10 years old, were
infected.
There have also been 25 deaths
recorded in Cebu City from January 1 to September 30.
--Panay News
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