ILOILO CITY – Western Visayas has recorded 51 dengue deaths out of the 20,814 cases from Jan. 1 to Aug. 31, 2024, according to the Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH WV CHD) in a virtual press briefing on Tuesday.
The data is higher by 264 percent compared with the 5,711 cases with 25 deaths for the same period in 2023.
Amid the increasing cases, Dr. Bea Camille Natalaray, program medical coordinator for emerging and re-emerging infectious disease cluster, said they have monitored the utilization rate in hospitals in the region for the past few weeks to be between 70 to 72 percent for all admissions.
‘We anticipate that since our dengue cases increased in the previous weeks, we have already distributed our advisory for our hospitals for the management of surge capacity,” she said, adding that not all dengue patients need to be admitted.
‘As long as we consult early and our patients are classified as without warning signs, they can be managed as outpatient cases. It is
important that they are assessed by the doctor and the monitoring is done daily,’ Natalaray said.
Among the provinces and highly urbanized cities, Iloilo province has the highest number of cases, with 8,039 cases and 23 deaths, followed by Negros Occidental, with 3,296 cases and 10 deaths.
Some 998 barangays in the region have clustering of cases, and 21 hotspot barangays.
‘We continue to remind our community to practice our 4S Strategy– Search and destroy, Self-protection measures, Seek Consultation, and Support fogging activities, especially in hotspot areas,’ Natalaray said.
Meanwhile, she said they have ongoing activities and strategies for the mpox response, like town hall meetings with target groups, boosting social media accounts, massive information drive, and enhancement of diagnostics and case management capabilities, among others.
‘Mpox can affect anyone. However, we can reduce the risk of contracting the disease by practicing good hygiene, avoiding skin-to-skin contact, and of course, by fol
lowing public health guidelines,’ she said.
Source: Philippines News agency