Health Secretary Ted Herbosa on Monday expressed alarm over the rising number of dengue hemorrhagic fever cases around the country, saying a formal declaration of an outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease is imminent.
In a press briefing, he said the latest figures collected by the Department of Health’s (DOH) Epidemiology Bureau indicate that recent dengue infections have reached epidemic proportions.
“I will be declaring a dengue outbreak because based on the latest report of the Epidemiology Bureau director, the number of recent cases has already reached outbreak levels,” Herbosa said in Filipino.
The DOH has registered some 136,000 dengue cases from January 1 to August 13, 2024, representing a 33 percent increase over the same period last year.
However, the health chief pointed out that despite the spike in dengue infections, fewer deaths are being attributed to the disease, owing to patients seeking medical attention at the early stages of the disease.
Herbosa also lauded the country’s hospitals for “doing better case management” on dengue patients.
So far, some 364 dengue-related fatalities have been recorded around the country this year, compared to the 401 deaths during the same span of time in 2023.
Several jurisdictions have already declared localized dengue outbreaks, including the provinces of Iloilo and Capiz, as well as Ormoc City in Leyte.
On Friday, the Provincial Government of Iloilo announced that the province has already met the criteria of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) for the declaration of a state of calamity.
Data from the Iloilo Provincial Health Office showed a total of 4,595 cases in the province as of August 10, including 10 deaths.
“Forty-one of the 43 LGUs (except Banate and Tubungan) also breached the epidemic threshold which refers to the level of occurrence of disease above which an urgent response is required,” the provincial government reported on its website.
Meanwhile, the Capiz Provincial Government has also declared a dengue outbreak in its jurisdiction after recording 1,386 cases and three fatalities from January 1 to August 10.
This year’s figures represent a 208 percent increase over the recorded dengue cases during the same period last year, Capiz health authorities reported.
The last time the DOH declared a nationwide dengue outbreak was in 2019.
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