The Department of Health (DOH) said that the number of dengue cases in the Philippines is now starting to peak.
“As we are seeing right now, mukhang nagpi-peak na tayo ngayon. Nag start nitong rainy season talaga--- June, July, August usually tumataas (As we are seeing right now, it looks like it is starting to peak already. Usually during the rainy season—June, July, August— cases usually rise),” said DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire during a press briefing on Tuesday, Aug. 9.
“Tapos makikita natin iyan unti-unti bababa doon sa level na hindi na siya alarming and then again will increase by December and January. Iyan yung laging trend sa ating bansa with these dengue cases (Then, it will gradually decrease to a level where it is no longer alarming and then, it will increase again by December and January. That's always the trend of dengue cases in our country),” she added.
There were 92,343 dengue cases recorded from Jan. 1 to July 23, based on the DOH data released on Monday, Aug. 8
Most dengue cases were recorded in Central Luzon with 15,951; Central Visayas with 9,429, and National Capital Region (NCR) with 7,962.
“Nationally, there were 344 deaths reported,” the DOH said.
Nine out of 17 regions exceeded the “epidemic threshold in the past four weeks,” it said.
These regions were Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Cordillera Administrative Region, and NCR, said Vergeire.
Vergeire, meanwhile, urged the different local government units as well as schools to conduct initiatives to destroy dengue breeding sites in time for the resumption of in-person classes this month.
“They need to ensure that children will be safe from all types of diseases when they go back to school. It is not just Covid-19 that we guard against for our children, it is also for dengue and other types of diseases,” she said.