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In this archive photo of January 27, 2016, an Aedes aegypti mosquito is photographed under a microscope.
Image credit: AP
MANILA, Philippines: At least 491 people, mostly children, have been killed by dengue fever in the Philippines in the first seven months of 2019, according to official figures. This equates to 82 deaths per month in recent years
This figure – 70 deaths per month of dengue – represents a jump of 46% over the same period in 2018.
The Ministry of Health (DOH) has declared a national health emergency to raise public awareness and to act on the spread of the disease transmitted by a killer mosquito.
Threat of dengue fever
The number of deaths for 2019 was 155 more than in 2018, with 336 deaths for the same period.
The Inquirer cited data from the Department of Health indicating a 22% increase in the number of dengue cases nationwide – from 5,704 to 30,745 from June 30 to July 6, 2019, out of 4 703 cases reported during the same period in 2018.
The Department of Health also reported that 115,986 dengue cases were reported from January 1 to July 6, 2019, nearly double the number of cases (62,267) recorded during the same period in 2018.
The agency had declared the dengue epidemic in five regions.
Almost a quarter (23%) involved children aged 5 to 9 and 19% were children aged 10 to 14 years.
Fact file on dengue fever
The female mosquitoes aedes egypti are the main carriers of the dengue virus, which is transmitted by mosquito bites.
The female mosquitoes aedes egypti are the main carriers of the dengue virus, which is transmitted by mosquito bites.
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