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DOH says dengue cases in CL now 80 % higher
By Ding Cervantes
Sep 10, 2010
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The Department of Health (DOH) in Central Luzon reported yesterday that dengue cases in the region is now 80 percent more than cases within the same period last year, with 23 deaths due to the mosquito-borne ailment also noted to be higher.
This, even DOH regional director Dr. Rio Magpantay also told Punto he is looking into reports of viral ailments causing dengue-like symptoms such as high fever and lowering not only of platelet counts but also of white blood corpuscles in the blood, but are later ascertained not to be dengue.
Magpantay said the dengue cases in Central Luzon has become “a cause for alarm” but noted that they have not reached epidemic proportions.
He cited latest reports indicating that since last January, 2,704 dengue cases have been noted in Central Luzon, and that this number is 80 percent higher than last year’s over the same period. The number is expected to go higher as more reports were still expected from the field.
At the national level, though, the DOH reported a higher 98.9 percent increase of dengue cases so far this year, as compared to the same period last year.
Magpantay also said that 23 deaths due to dengue have already been reported in Central Luzon. “As this time last year, there were only 16 deaths,” he said.
“While the dengue cases have peaked and there have been reports of clustered cases, we have not yet reached the epidemic threshold. Our deaths so far also had not reached the one percent level of the total cases as the 23 fatalities comprise only .85 percent of the total cases,” Magpantay noted.
The breakdown of the dengue cases are as follows: 1,130 in Bulacan, 600 in Nueva Ecija, 316 in Pampanga, 241 in Aurora, 192 in Zambales, 181 in Tarlac, and 23 in Bataan.
The dengue case deaths included 10 in Bulacan, four in Pampanga, three in Zambales and, two each in Aurora and Nueva Ecija.
Meanwhile, Magpantay said he would task epidiomologists to look into the cases of hospitalized patients who exhibited symptoms of dengue but was later found negative in them.,
Reports he received indicated that the patients experienced recurrent high fever and lowering not only of platelets but also white blood corpuscles in the blood. The fever often reached 40 degrees centigrade or even higher, as against the threshhold of 37 degrees.
Magpantay noted that in dengue cases, only the platelet count normally goes down, not the white blood corpuscles. Doctors attending to the patients always concluded that the cases were viral, although they never went beyond this to give a specific diagnosis.
“I want to see the laboratory findings and record of the symptoms of the patients. It is possible that they are mild cases of dengue,” Magpantay said.
He said that the DOH normally determines cases of dengue through platelet count and not through the so-called “rapid diagnostic test” which, he noted, is expensive.
Magpantay stressed, however, that the best way to curve dengue is to remove pools of water in the environment which serves as breeding grounds for the Aedes Egypti mosquitoes which are carriers of the dengue virus.
He also said that a few cases of AH1N1 were reported recently in Bataan, but that the patients have already fully recovered. “We were not bothered with the cases since they could really be regarded as ordinary flu,” he added.
This, even DOH regional director Dr. Rio Magpantay also told Punto he is looking into reports of viral ailments causing dengue-like symptoms such as high fever and lowering not only of platelet counts but also of white blood corpuscles in the blood, but are later ascertained not to be dengue.
Magpantay said the dengue cases in Central Luzon has become “a cause for alarm” but noted that they have not reached epidemic proportions.
He cited latest reports indicating that since last January, 2,704 dengue cases have been noted in Central Luzon, and that this number is 80 percent higher than last year’s over the same period. The number is expected to go higher as more reports were still expected from the field.
At the national level, though, the DOH reported a higher 98.9 percent increase of dengue cases so far this year, as compared to the same period last year.
Magpantay also said that 23 deaths due to dengue have already been reported in Central Luzon. “As this time last year, there were only 16 deaths,” he said.
“While the dengue cases have peaked and there have been reports of clustered cases, we have not yet reached the epidemic threshold. Our deaths so far also had not reached the one percent level of the total cases as the 23 fatalities comprise only .85 percent of the total cases,” Magpantay noted.
The breakdown of the dengue cases are as follows: 1,130 in Bulacan, 600 in Nueva Ecija, 316 in Pampanga, 241 in Aurora, 192 in Zambales, 181 in Tarlac, and 23 in Bataan.
The dengue case deaths included 10 in Bulacan, four in Pampanga, three in Zambales and, two each in Aurora and Nueva Ecija.
Meanwhile, Magpantay said he would task epidiomologists to look into the cases of hospitalized patients who exhibited symptoms of dengue but was later found negative in them.,
Reports he received indicated that the patients experienced recurrent high fever and lowering not only of platelets but also white blood corpuscles in the blood. The fever often reached 40 degrees centigrade or even higher, as against the threshhold of 37 degrees.
Magpantay noted that in dengue cases, only the platelet count normally goes down, not the white blood corpuscles. Doctors attending to the patients always concluded that the cases were viral, although they never went beyond this to give a specific diagnosis.
“I want to see the laboratory findings and record of the symptoms of the patients. It is possible that they are mild cases of dengue,” Magpantay said.
He said that the DOH normally determines cases of dengue through platelet count and not through the so-called “rapid diagnostic test” which, he noted, is expensive.
Magpantay stressed, however, that the best way to curve dengue is to remove pools of water in the environment which serves as breeding grounds for the Aedes Egypti mosquitoes which are carriers of the dengue virus.
He also said that a few cases of AH1N1 were reported recently in Bataan, but that the patients have already fully recovered. “We were not bothered with the cases since they could really be regarded as ordinary flu,” he added.
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