Dengue down 41%; Leptospirosis up 62.5%

BACOLOD City – Dengue cases from January 1 to June 23, 2018 decreased 40.7% compared to the same period The data, covering the first 25 weeks of this year, showed 278 cases, including three deaths. Last year, 469 cases with three deaths were reported

The youngest patient was four months old and the oldest was 72 years old, but the oldest group was between one and ten years old.

Two six-year-olds came from Barangays Sum-ag and Felisa, and an 11-year-old boy from Barangay Pahanocoy

. Grace Tan, head of the CHO Sanitation Division, said dengue cases were increasing every three years and that cases in Bacolod were up in 2016.

"This is correlated with the 39, increase in dengue cases nationally since 2010. According to the trend, cases are expected to increase in 2019, "she added

The top 10 barangays with the highest dengue cases since January this year year are Taculing with 27 cases, Sum-ag, 26, Villamonte, 24, Handumanan, 23, Singcang-Airport, 22, Alijis, 18, Mansilingan, 17, Tangub, 16, Mandalagan, 14, and Estefania , 12.

Pahanocoy and Felisa, where the two deaths were reported, have nine and five cases, respectively.

"We continue to advocate for the inhabitants of Bacolod to adhere to the 4S strategy to prevent dengue, "Tan says.

The 4S strategy includes: Search and destroy the breeding places of mosquitoes; secure self-protection; Look for early consultation and support nebulization / spraying only in sensitive areas where an increase in the number of cases is recorded for two consecutive weeks in order to prevent an imminent outbreak.

"We have to do it together. Tan is not the only concern of the health sector, dengue is the business of all, "he adds.

Meanwhile, cases of leptospirosis rose 62.5% in the first six months of 2018.

with one death, compared with eight cases in the last year, with three deaths.

"All of this is suspected.In confirmed cases, the Leptospira organism should be identified in the patient's blood sample," she said.

Blood samples are sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine for confirmation.

The Ministry of Health Bacteria enter wounds in contact with floodwater, vegetation, wet soil contaminated with urine from infected animals, especially rats.

Symptoms include fever, nonspecific symptoms of muscle pain, headache, and red eyes in some cases, and severe cases result in liver damage, kidney failure, or brain damage.

To prevent leptospirosis, the DOH advised the public to avoid swimming or wading in potentially contaminated water or flood waters; use appropriate protection such as boots and gloves when the work requires exposure to contaminated water; drain potentially contaminated water where possible; and control the rats in the house using rat traps or rat poison, keeping the house clean. (PNA)