18 October 2005
Duque: Dengue almost gone
HEALTH Secretary Francisco Duque III has announced here that the dengue fever has waned down throughout the Philippines although cases of the disease in other countries are still rising.
“We are lucky that dengue in our country is now going down, whereas the dengue count in other countries is still rising, “Duque said in a talk to newsmen shortly after the inauguration of several facilities including a dialysis center for the poor at the Region 1 Medical Center here last Sunday.
Duque, a member of a family that owns the Lyceum-Northwestern University and also the University of Pangasinan, both in Dagupan City, said as of Oct. 2, there were 22,000 cases of dengue registered.
He said this was 25 percent higher than the number of cases registered throughout the country last year.
Records showed that from this number, there was a 1.4 percent case-fatality rate for dengue this year. Most of the cases of dengue were registered in the months of July and August.
At the same time, Duque announced that the cholera outbreak in Catanduanes and Camarines Sur which downed a number of people a few weeks ago is now under control.
He asked the public there and in other parts of the country to take precautionary measures because this is really the reason for gastro-intestinal disease, such as cholera and diarrhea, including flu, he said.
Pointing out that personal hygiene is very important, Duque said that health is wealth, and that the latter is useless without the former.
Another mosquito-borne disease, the Japanese encephalitis, is not widespread and still not considered a threat in the Philippines, Duque assured.
“We are lucky that dengue in our country is now going down, whereas the dengue count in other countries is still rising, “Duque said in a talk to newsmen shortly after the inauguration of several facilities including a dialysis center for the poor at the Region 1 Medical Center here last Sunday.
Duque, a member of a family that owns the Lyceum-Northwestern University and also the University of Pangasinan, both in Dagupan City, said as of Oct. 2, there were 22,000 cases of dengue registered.
He said this was 25 percent higher than the number of cases registered throughout the country last year.
Records showed that from this number, there was a 1.4 percent case-fatality rate for dengue this year. Most of the cases of dengue were registered in the months of July and August.
At the same time, Duque announced that the cholera outbreak in Catanduanes and Camarines Sur which downed a number of people a few weeks ago is now under control.
He asked the public there and in other parts of the country to take precautionary measures because this is really the reason for gastro-intestinal disease, such as cholera and diarrhea, including flu, he said.
Pointing out that personal hygiene is very important, Duque said that health is wealth, and that the latter is useless without the former.
Another mosquito-borne disease, the Japanese encephalitis, is not widespread and still not considered a threat in the Philippines, Duque assured.
