14 dead in dengue in Central Mindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines  ---- Fourteen Central Mindanao residents succumbed to the dreaded mosquito-borne dengue fever  between January and March this year, health authorities announced Wednesday.

The Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU) of the Department of Health in Region 12 had listed a total of 1, 291 cases during the period.

The DOH-12, in a press statement, said the statistics were, however, lower than  the same period in  2013.

The DOH-12 had recorded 2,612 dengue cases from January to March 2013, with seven recorded deaths.

The DOH-12 said 53 percent of the 1,291 people afflicted with dengue for the first quarter of this year were males, mostly children.

The DOH-12 covers the provinces of North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, Sarangani, and the cities of Tacurong, Cotabato, Gen. Santos, Cotabato, Koronadal and Kidapawan.

Health officials in Gen. Santos City recorded 446 dengue cases, Region 12’s highest, during the first quarter of this year.

North Cotabato had 175 cases during the period, with one recorded death. Two dengue patients died in Saranggani also during the first quarter of 2014.

Sultan Kudarat province had 81 dengue cases, with one recorded fatality.

The DOH-12 said its RESU personnel have been monitoring three dengue hotspots in Gen. Santos City, Barangays Labangal, San Isidro, and Fatima, which accounts for most number of cases from January 1 to March 31.

The DOH-12 said there were 16 deaths due to dengue infection during the first quarter of last year.