
The Department of Health (DOH) said it recorded more than 34,000 dengue cases from January to May.
"There were 34,938 dengue cases reported from Jan. 1 to May 21, 2022. Cumulatively, cases this year is 23 percent higher compared to the reported cases during the same period in 2021 (28,336)," the DOH said in a statement on Thursday, June 9.
The regions with the most number of dengue cases were Central Visayas with 4,544; Central Luzon with 4,312; and Zamboanga Peninsula with 3,215 cases.
"Nationally, there were 180 deaths reported," the DOH noted.
Ten out of 17 regions of the country "showed increasing cases in the recent period" or during the period of April 24 to May 21. These regions are Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Davao Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The DOH said dengue is transmitted through a bite of dengue-infected Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes.
Symptoms of dengue include sudden onset of fever of two to seven days, plus two of the following: headache, body weakness, joint and muscle pains, pain behind the eyes, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, and skin rashes.
Chikungunya
Meanwhile, the DOH also recorded 43 cases of chikungunya from Jan. 1 to May 21.
"Cumulatively, cases this year is 169 percent higher compared to the reported cases during the same period in 2021 (16)," the DOH said.
"There was no death reported among chikungunya cases as of May 21, 2022," it added.
Chikungunya is a "mosquito-borne disease that affects mainly adults which causes fever, severe joint pain and shares clinical signs with, but is not as deadly as, dengue," the DOH said.