More than 2,000 dengue cases have already been recorded in Cagayan Valley since the start of this year, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said.
“From January to June 4, ang kaso ng Region 2 ay umabot na ng (our cases in Region 2 already reached) 2,014, which is 897 percent higher than the previous year, which is only 202,” said DOH Region 2 Medical Officer Dr. Romulo Turingan in an interview with CNN Philippines on Wednesday, June 8.
“Most affected age group is 11 to 20 years old, comprising 35 percent of these cases,” he added.
Hospitals in the region can still accommodate dengue cases, said Turingan.
“Sa ngayon, okay pa naman sila (So far, they are still okay). We have plenty of beds ready for these dengue cases,” he said.
“We have also recommended the activation of dengue fast lanes in hospitals and we have provided all provincial local governments the logistics for the prevention and control activities,” he noted.
In a press briefing, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that areas in Cagayan Valley, specifically Cagayan, Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya already exceeded their “alert and epidemic threshold.” Also, eight deaths were already recorded in the region because of dengue, she said.
“Ibig sabihin, pag kinumpara natin yung mga numero ng kaso nila sa ngayon comparing to the same period last year, makikita natin na nag-exceed po nung threshold, o yung average nung kanilang kaso sa ngayon (It means that when we compare their current case numbers to the same period last year, we can see that their average number of cases have exceeded the threshold). Most of the dengue cases recorded in Region 2 are from Isabela, Cagayan and Nueva Viscaya,” she said.
The DOH also already “flagged local governments our regional offices regarding this increase in the number of dengue cases,” said Vergeire.
“We have provided funds sa lahat ng ating regional offices para sa assistance na pwede nilang ibigay sa ating local governments (to all our regional offices for the assistance they can give to our local governments). We have already mobilized dengue brigades in the local governments through our CHDs and we also mobilize our fast lanes in our hospitals,” she added.