Dengue cases in Iloilo up by nearly 300%

Dengue cases in Iloilo province rose by nearly 300 percent in the first three months of 2013, the province's health authorities disclosed on Wednesday.

The Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) recorded 463 cases with two deaths from January 1 to March 30 this year, Iloilo-based The Daily Guardian reported.

The figure was 292 percent higher than the 118 cases in the same period in 2012, the IPHO said.

Assistant provincial health officer Dr. Ma. Socorro Quiñon said this was partly due to unhygienic practices in some rural areas.

Quiñon noted that infection rates were high in rural areas where families did not have access to water from a faucet.

The report also cited an epidemiology survey in four towns showing that poor water storage practices led to the breeding of mosquitoes.

It said families who stored water in buckets without protective covers ran the risk of making the areas breeding sites for dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

In 2010, Iloilo province had been placed under a state of calamity due to 6,500 dengue cases that killed 32 people.

High incidence areas

Most of the cases were in Banate town with 61. At least one death was also recorded in Banate, the report said.

Other towns with high incidences of dengue cases included Janiuay (30); Calinog (27); Sta. Barbara (27); and New Lucena (24).

Tips

Quiñon reiterated the call to keep surroundings dry and clean.

She urged residents to clean their water buckets thoroughly before storing large amounts of water there, and said the buckets should be covered. - VVP, GMA News