DOH searching for dengue cure

The Department of Health (DOH) will be working with the World Health Organization (WHO) in finding a cure for dengue as the number of cases in the country reached a record high this year. Health Secretary Enrique Ona said on Thursday the DOH and WHO will undertake a collaborative research for a potential cure for dengue. He said the search for a dengue cure began in the 1990s but there have not been any tangible results even after almost 20 years because dengue is an epidemic only in Southeast Asia. "Kaya kulang ang pondo sa research dahil narito lang sa Southeast Asia ang dengue, hindi parang ibang sakit tulad ng A(H1N1) na buong mundo apektado (The reason why there's not enough funding for dengue cure research is because it is only epidemic in Southeast Asia. Other illnesses like A(H1N1) affected the whole world)," he said. Ona said he plans to meet with the health leaders of other Southeast Asia countries to discuss the possibility of pooling resources in the search for a vaccine against dengue. "Isang bagay na dapat bigyang diin is iyong research," he said. "Kailangang maglagay tayo ng pondo para magkaroon ng research kung paano makokontrol ang dengue in terms of mosquito intervention at paano madi-diagnose nang maaga." (We have to put importance on research. We need to allocate funds on researching how to control dengue in terms of mosquito intervention and early diagnosis.) While there is no dengue vaccine yet, Ona said prevention, by keeping one's surroundings clean, is the best defense against dengue. "Ang regular na paglilinis ng ating kabahayan ang pinakamalaking bagay para masugpo ang dengue habang walang vaccine (Cleaning our homes and our surroundings is the best way to fight dengue while there is no available vaccine)," he said. Number of dengue cases start to go down The number of dengue cases in August this year reached 15,222, slightly lower than the 19,992 cases recorded in July 2010. Even though the number of dengue cases went down in August, the overall count from January to August this year — 69,594 cases, is almost double the figure reported in the same period in 2009. However, the DOH expects the number of cases to go down after the June to August peak, even though dengue is no longer considered a rainy season disease. The dengue record in this year went above the epidemic threshold after 501 deaths were reported in the last eight months. Ona cautioned the public and local health authorities not to let their guard down against the disease even though the dengue count could start to go down. "We are calling on all local government units to mobilize barangay dengue brigades in their areas," he said, adding that health centers should be ready to manage consultations for dengue and other rainy season diseases like flu, leptospirosis and bronchitis. Ona also directed DOH officials to suspend temporarily their out of town seminars and trainings so that they can focus their attention to dengue. –VVP, GMANews.TV