PH Records 25,000 Dengue Cases in July

MANILA: Philippine health officials have recorded an additional 25,000 dengue cases in the past month, the latest data have revealed.

On July 2, the Philippines Department of Health (DOH) put the tally since the beginning of the year at 59,585, reported Outbreak News Today.

According to the data, DOH puts the dengue total at 84,085 suspected dengue cases through Aug. 6. There were 585 laboratory-confirmed dengue cases in the country, the report said.

Officials have reported 372 dengue-related fatalities.

The total dengue cases to date is approximately 16 percent higher than the total seen during the same period in 2015, when the archipelago reported more than 200,000 cases at years end.

The Philippines, along with Malaysia and Cambodia are countries in the Western pacific with the highest incidence of dengue, according to the World Health Organization.

Dengue fever is a disease caused by any one of four closely related dengue viruses (DENV 1, DENV 2, DENV 3, or DENV 4). The viruses are transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito.

The principal symptoms of dengue fever are high fever, severe headache, severe pain behind the eyes, joint pain, muscle and bone pain, rash, and mild bleeding(e.g., nose or gums bleed, easy bruising). Generally, younger children and those with their first dengue infection have a milder illness than older children and adults, reported Outbreak News Today.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reportedly estimates there may be 50–100 million dengue infections worldwide every year.

However, new research from the University of Oxford and the Wellcome Trust, using cartographic approaches, reportedly put dengue infections at 390 million cases per year worldwide.

(Source: FilipinoTimes.ae)