THE Department of Health (DOH) yesterday said latest data on dengue cases show a declaration of a national dengue outbreak is not yet necessary.
Last Monday, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said the DOH is preparing to declare a dengue outbreak in the country.
Health Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo said yesterday that Herbosa, after revieing the data, noted that not all areas nationwide warrant an outbreak or epidemic declaration.”
Domingo, however, stressed local government officials still have the authority to declare localized disease outbreaks in their areas.
“DOH continues to discuss with local epidemiology and surveillance units to provide sufficient scientific evidence so that they may advise their local chief executives (governors or mayors) on the best available response,” said Domingo.
Based on the latest dengue data, cases of the vector-borne disease remain on an upward trend.
“The DOH continues to observe a trend of higher case detection,” said the DOH in a statement. “Case counts are expected to rise during the rainy months.”
From January 1 to August 10, there were 150,354 dengue cases nationwide, or
s 39 percent higher compared to the 107,953 dengue cases reported in the same period in 2023.
On a week-by-week comparison, the DOH said dengue cases increased from 18,784 cases on June 30 to July 13 to 23,290 from July 14 to July 27, and to 13,369 cases from July 28 to August 10.
There were 396 dengue deaths from January 1 to August 10, lower than the 421 deaths recorded during the same period last year.
