Bacolod City – While dengue cases in Negros Occidental are still on an upward trend, Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Jessica Fama declared recently that the province is still below in alert level threshold during the period from June 12 to 18.
A report of the Department of Health-Western Visayas showed an increase of 140 more dengue cases during the said period, bringing to 1,368 the cases in Negros Occidental from January 1 to June 18.
Compared to the same period last year, increase of 605 percent was registered, DOH-WV reports added.
The dengue death toll in Negros Occidental also rose to seven.
In the same period, dengue cases in highly urbanized Bacolod City reached 238, with 22 cases reported from June 12 to 18, while deaths have remained at four, DOH-WV reports further stated.
Fama encouraged Negrenses to clean their surroundings of stagnant water and implement other precautionary measures to prevent the spread of dengue.
Antique province is trailing Negros Occidental in terms of the greatest number of dengue cases at 987, followed by Iloilo -574, Bacolod City – 238, Capiz -225, Aklan – 131, Iloilo City – 97 and 37 in Guimaras.
Of the 3,653 cases in Western Visayas, 38 percent of the victims have ages from one to 10 years old, the DOH-WV reports added. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), photo courtesy of TVDS)