Negros Occidental has recorded 10 deaths, while the highly urbanized city of Bacolod recorded three fatalities, all related to dengue, from January 1 to August 31, according to the Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health and Development virtual press briefing recently in Iloilo City.
Among the provinces and highly urbanized cities, Iloilo province has the most cases with 8,039 and 23 deaths, followed by Negros Occidental with 3,296 cases and 10 deaths, records of the DOHWV Center for Health and Development indicated.
Dengue cases all over Western Visayas were recorded at 20,814, which is an increase of 264 percent, compared to 5,711 cases for the same period in 2023. In terms of deaths, the current period logged 51, compared to 25 previously.
As of Aug. 24, the Bacolod City Health Office has logged 875 cases, showing an increase of 139.7 percent, compared to 380 cases in the same period last year.
Amid the increasing cases, Dr. Bea Camille Natalaray, program medical coordinator for emerging and re-emerging infectious disease clusters, said they have monitored the utilization rate in hospitals in the region to be between 70 to 72 percent for all admissions for the past few weeks.
“We anticipate that since our dengue cases increased in the previous weeks, we have already distributed our advisory for our hospitals for the management of surge capacity,” she said, adding that not all dengue patients need to be admitted.
“As long as we consult early and our patients are classified as without warning signs, they can be managed as outpatient cases. It is important that they are assessed by the doctor and the monitoring is done daily,” Natalaray said.
Some 998 barangays in the region have clustering of cases, and there are 21 hotspot barangays.
“We continue to remind our community to practice our 4S Strategy– Search and destroy, Self-protection measures, Seek Consultation, and Support fogging activities, especially in hotspot areas,” Natalaray said. (Gilbert Bayoran via tvds with PNA reports)