6-year-old Bacolod boy, latest dengue fatality

A six-year-old boy in Negros Occidental province is the latest to die from the dengue virus, a Bacolod-based news site reported Wednesday. The death of the boy from Barangay 34 in Bacolod City was the fifth fatality in the city so far this year, according to a report from the Visayan Daily Star. The report identified the fatality as John David Anema, who had a fever on June 20 and was brought to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital June 23. His mother Risa said it was at the hospital where doctors diagnosed him with dengue. Mrs. Anema said the boy died June 26. Yet, the provincial health office noted Barangay 34 was not among the top five villages where the most cases of dengue had been recorded so far this year. The Visayan Daily Star report cited records from the Bacolod Health Office showing that in the first two quarters of this year, there had been 1,489 cases of dengue in the city - 819.14 percent higher than 162 in the same period last year. It also noted an upward trend in dengue cases in Bacolod since 2011. While there were 388 cases in 2011, the number went up to 1,385 in 2012. — DVM, GMA News