Dengue cases swamp Davao City hospitals

Government hospitals in Davao City are turning away dengue patients from Davao Del Sur province because they are finding it difficult to handle the increasing number of patients in the city, a health official said on Tuesday.

In several provinces across the country, health officials have asked the public to be vigilant and keep their surroundings clean as the number of dengue fever patients continues to rise.

Records from the Davao City health office said the city had 96 dengue cases in May alone. From January to May, however, 12 patients had died from the mosquito-borne disease.

Riza Dacalos, provincial dengue prevention coordinator, said the information on the nonadmission of patients from Davao Del Sur was relayed to the provincial health office by Davao City hospital officials during a recent meeting.

She said that this had prompted the Department of Health to prepare government hospitals in the province, including the main facility of the Davao Del Sur Provincial Hospital in Digos City.

Blood supply

The main reason of relatives of dengue patients for bringing them to Davao City was the availability of blood supply there for transfusion, Dacalos said.

She said the number of dengue cases in Davao Del Sur had not reached an alarming level, with 178 cases recorded from January to May. But she said health officials had expected the increase with the onset of the rainy season.

As a precaution for the rainy season, the DOH has distributed medically treated curtains and nets to school in towns where a huge number of dengue cases had been monitored.

In Pangasinan province, more than 600 people, mostly children, have been afflicted with dengue fever in 44 of 48 towns and cities since January this year, a provincial health official said.

Dr. Anna Ma. Teresa de Guzman said this year’s number of cases was 15 percent more than that of last year’s 536 cases from January to June.

Deaths

Two deaths from the towns of Bugallon and Bolinao were recorded this year.

In Isabela province, Dr. Romanchito Bayang, assistant health officer of Santiago City, said a dengue outbreak had been declared in the city due to the four dengue-related deaths recorded from January to May.

Records from the provincial health office showed that Isabela had 219 dengue cases from January to April, higher than the 134 cases recorded in the same period last year.

In Iloilo City, Dr. Urminico Baronda, city health officer, said the number of cases from January to May had reached 529 with six deaths. The number of cases is 475 percent higher than the 92 cases with two deaths recorded in the same period last year.

Rainy woes

Baronda said the surge in the number of cases could be partly due to the onset of the rainy season which contributes to the increase of breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

In Laguna province, the health department in San Pablo City warned the public to be more vigilant as the number of dengue cases continues to rise in the city in the last two months.

City health officer Job Brion said that 82 cases had been recorded in 39 villages as of June 4. Reports from Orlando Dinoy, Inquirer Mindanao; Gabriel Cardinoza and Villamor Visaya Jr., Inquirer Northern Luzon; Nestor Burgos, Inquirer Visayas; and Romulo Ponte, Inquirer Southern Luzon

LINK FROM newsinfo