Duque declares national dengue alert as cases continue to rise

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Monday declared a "National Dengue Alert" as cases of dengue continue to rise in the country, according to a report by Mav Gonzales on GMA News TV's Balitanghali.

JUST IN: Health Sec. Francisco Duque III declares National Dengue Alert due to rapidly increasing nymber of cases observed in several regions.

106,630 dengue cases have been recorded from January 1 to June 29 this year. @gmanews pic.twitter.com/zED6oV3izq

— Mav Gonzales (@mavgonzales) July 15, 2019

Duque made the announcement in a press conference with officials from the Department of Health and the World Health Organization.

@DOHgov Sec. Francisco Duque, inanunsyo ang "National Dengue Alert" bunsod ng patuloy na pagtaas ng mga kaso ng dengue sa buong bansa. @dzbb pic.twitter.com/uBaTelgF6V

— Isa Avendaño-Umali (@Isa_Umali) July 15, 2019

This is the first time the DOH has declared a national dengue alert.

The number of dengue cases has already reached 106,630 from January 1 to June 29 this year.

This is 85% higher than the number of dengue cases in the same period in 2018.

The DOH also said 456 have died due to dengue this year, and many of them were children aged five to nine years old.

Duque said code blue has already been activated in coordination with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, according to a report by Isa Avendaño-Umali on Super Radyo dzBB.

@SecDuque: In coordination with the @NDRRMC_OpCen, code blue alert is activated. @DOHgov as lead agency, will be convening the NDRRMC Health Cluster. @dzbb

— Isa Avendaño-Umali (@Isa_Umali) July 15, 2019

Health officials also declared a dengue epidemic in Mimaropa, Western Visayas, Central Visayas and Northern Mindanao.

Meanwhile, some areas such as Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon, Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Davao, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Cordillera Administrative Region were in the alert threshold.

The DOH said dengue cases spike every three to four years.

It reiterated its advisory to the public on the 4S tips on how to prevent dengue:

• Search and destroy mosquito breeding sites
• Self-protective measures
• Seek early consultation
• Say yes to selective fogging.

Health officials also said it is important to seek medical attention as soon as dengue symptoms manifest, such as fever running for more than two days, severe joint and muscle pain, fatigue, nausea, skin rashes, and bleeding.

"Usually they are brought to the hospitals rather late. Complication third stage has already been reached. Ito 'yung hemorrhage, internal bleeding, the heart is affected, the other organs are similarly affected. Early detection is so crucial," Duque said. —KG, GMA News