SONA didn't give full picture on dengue: Cases have risen 16 percent

By: Cher Jimenez, InterAksyon.com
July 26, 2012 4:30 PM

InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

As President Benigno Aquino III boasts that dengue cases have gone down in some provinces because of the introduction of a mosquito trap developed by the Department of Science and Technology, many parts of the country continue to suffer through a totally different reality.

According to the Disease Surveillance Report of the Department of Health, a total of 51,597 dengue cases were reported from January to July 14 this year, representing a 16.4 percent spike compared to the same period last year.

The report, released by the National Epidemiology Center on Thursday, also shows more dengue-related deaths over the first seven months of the year (328) compared to 293 deaths reported over the same period in 2011.

Most of the dengue cases this year were monitored in the National Capital Region (22.4%), followed by Region IV-A (14.08%), and Region III(13.65%).

Forty percent of dengue cases this year involved children 10-years-old and younger. Among fatalities, a majority were babies younger than one-year-old.

Nationwide, the case fatality rate for dengue went down from 0.66 last year to 0.64 this year.

During his State of the Nation address last Monday, the President said the DOST's mosquito trap technology was able to dramatically bring down dengue cases in Bukidnon, Cagayan, and in Northern Samar.

“Sinubok natin ang bisa ng mosquito traps sa mga lugar kung saan naitala ang pinakamataas na insidente ng dengue. Sa buong probinsya ng Bukidnon noong 2010, may 1,216 na kaso. Nang inilagay ang mga mosquito trap noong 2011: mukhang nakatulong dahil bumaba ito sa tatlumpu’t pito; 97 percent raw po ang reduction nito. Sa mga bayan ng Ballesteros at Claveria sa Cagayan, may 228 na kaso ng dengue noong 2010. Pagdating ng 2011, walo na lang ang naitala. Sa Catarman, Northern Samar: 434 na kaso ng dengue noong 2010, naging apat na lang noong 2011,” Mr. Aquino said.

"We tested the effectiveness of mosquito traps in areas with the highest incidence rates for dengue," the President had said in Filipino. "In the whole province of Bukidnon in 2010, there were 1,216 cases. When we set up the mosquito traps in 2011, this went down to 37 - a 97 percent drop. In the town of Claveria in Cagayan, there were 228 dengues cases in 2010. In 2011, only eight cases were registered. In Catarman, Northern Samar, there were 434 cases of dengue in 2010. This went down to four in 2011."

Quezon City remains to have the most number of dengue cases in Metro Manila with 3,589 cases reported over the first seven months of 2012.