The increasing trend of dengue cases in the Philippines is “quite alarming,” the Department of Health (DOH) said.
From January to June, the DOH already recorded 51,622 dengue cases nationwide. During the same period last year, there were only 32,610 cases recorded, said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Friday, July 8.
“Unang-una, alarming in terms of pagdami. So, kailangan talaga na mag-ingat at i-monitor nang husto dahil nakikita natin ang patuloy na pagtaas (First of all, this is alarming in terms of increasing . So, we really need to be careful and monitor this closely because we are seeing a continuous increase),” she said.
“Kaya po siya medyo nakakaalarma na sinasabi natin dahil naapektuhan niya po yung ating mga kabataan at nagkakaroon tayo ng admission sa mga ospital at ayaw po nating mangyari yan (This is quite alarming because it is affecting young people and we are having hospital admissions—which we don't want to happen),” she added.
The DOH has downloaded funds to its regional offices to assist local government units in managing their respective dengue patients.
The DOH also asked the hospitals to activate their dengue fast lanes to immediately attend to dengue patients, said Vergeire.