Dengue cases in Pangasinan up by 200%
LINGAYEN–The Provincial Health Office (PHO) has admitted the number of dengue in Pangasinan from January to the first week of April this year has ballooned by more than 200 percent.
The provincial health office confirmed that 982 persons caught the dengue virus compared to only 348 persons afflicted for the same period last year.
Dr. Ma. Anna de Guzman, provincial health officer, told The PUNCH that the biggest number of dengue cases were registered in January, a cold month.
“While we admit that the incidence of dengue is again high in the province, we are doing our best to bring down the mortality rate,” she said.
The number of cases decreased in February and March and early days of April because of the advent of the warm days.
“We expect dengue to go down further this summer except for the fact that it is now raining in Pangasinan almost every afternoon or evening,” she said, adding that the rains could further fan the occurrence of dengue.
However, she expressed concern over the onset of rains occasionally which she said could spawn stored water in many places where mosquitoes can lay their eggs.
From January to the first week of April 2018, there were four deaths due to dengue as compared to just three deaths last year.
At the same time, De Guzman revealed that Pangasinan already registered two confirmed measles cases in the town of Binmaley. However, the two children, she said, are now safe and had been discharged from the hospital where they were confined.
She expressed fears that measles cases in the province may rise because of the resistance of parents to submit their children for vaccination as a result of the stigma created by the dengvaxia anti-dengue vaccine.
She said parents are resisting not only anti-dengue vaccine but other vaccines that prevent measles, tuberculosis, diphtheria, chicken pox, mumps and others.
Debunking parents’ fear against vaccination, De Guzman assured that the vaccines being given children are no different from those given to their grandparents and parents since about a century ago and none of the recipients got sick or had died. (Leonardo Micua)
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