ROXAS City – Two children died due to dengue in Capiz as of June 28 this year, according to the Provincial Health Office (PHO).
The casualties include a 4-year-old boy in Barangay Banica, Roxas City and a 9-year-old girl in Barangay Poblacion Norte, Ivisan town, the PHO added.
From January to June 28, a total of 222 dengue cases were recorded in Capiz. Nineteen of these cases are patients from other provinces who seek treatment in Capiz hospitals.
Records from the PHO showed that Roxas City has the most number of dengue cases with 89.
Ivisan and Mambusao followed with 15 each, Panitan with 11, Jamindan and President Roxas with 10 each, Dao with eight, Sigma with seven, Panay, Dumalag and Dumarao with six each, Sapian with five, Tapaz and Pontevedra with four each, and Pilar and Maayon with one case each.
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection causing a severe flu-like illness and, sometimes causing a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Dengue’s high fever (40°C/ 104°F) is accompanied by two of the following symptoms – severe headache, pain behind the eyes, nausea, vomiting, swollen glands, muscle and joint pains, and rashes.
These symptoms usually last for two to seven days after a four-to-ten-day incubation period of the mosquito bite.
Severe dengue, previously known as dengue hemorrhagic fever, was first recognized in the 1950s during dengue epidemics in the Philippines and Thailand.
It is a potentially deadly complication due to plasma leaking, fluid accumulation, respiratory distress, severe bleeding, or organ impairment, the WHO added.
The symptoms of severe dengue occur three to seven days after the dengue symptoms, accompanied with a decrease in temperature (below 38°C/ 100°F).
These symptoms include severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, rapid breathing, bleeding gums, blood in vomit, fatigue, and restlessness.
PHO information officer Ayr Altavas said they are intensifying their anti-dengue campaign in Capiz through community mobilization and information drives.
The Department of Health advises the public to observe the 4S strategy to ward off dengue infection. 4S stands for searching and destroying mosquito breeding places, self-protection measures, seeking early consultation for fever lasting more than two days, and saying “no” to indiscriminate fogging./PN
