Philippines’ dengue count now 143% higher year-on-year with 118K cases

A total of 118,785 dengue cases have been recorded from January 1 to August 13, 2022, which is 143% higher than those recorded during the same period last year, the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.

Based on the DOH’s national dengue data as of August 13, there were 48,867 cases logged from January 1 to August 13, 2021.

Cumulatively, most of the dengue cases this year or 18% were reported in Central Luzon at 21,247.

It is followed by Central Visayas with 11,390 cases (10%), and the National Capital Region (NCR) with 11,064 (9%).

A total of 19,816 dengue cases were also recorded from July 17 to August 13 alone.

Central Luzon also topped the list of regions with the most dengue cases in the recent period with 3,457 cases or 17%.

This was followed by the NCR with 3,131 (16%), and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) with 2,106 (11%).

The death toll nationally due to dengue has now jumped to 400, posing a 0.3% case fatality rate.

Of these deaths, 35 occurred in January; 31 in February; 37 in March; 47 in April; 62 in May; 74 in June; 100 in July; and 14 in August.

The DOH said that six out of 17 regions exceeded the epidemic threshold for dengue in the past four weeks or from July 17 to August 13. These regions were Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, CAR, and NCR.

Of these regions, it was NCR that showed a “sustained increasing trend” of dengue cases over the same period, DOH pointed out. — RSJ, GMA News