The town of Janiuay, in central Iloilo province in the Visayas, Philippines has reported a huge increase in dengue fever cases in 2018 compared to last year, according to a local media report.

Image/CDC
Image/CDC

The municipality of 63,000 has reported 154 confirmed dengue cases with two deaths from January to October, a whopping 875 percent increase from the 16 cases reported during the same period in 2017.

Dengue fever is an infectious disease carried by mosquitoes and caused by any of four related dengue viruses. This disease used to be called “break-bone fever” because it sometimes causes severe joint and muscle pain that feels like bones are breaking.

People get the dengue virus from the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. It is not contagious from person to person.

There are three types of dengue fever in order of less severe to most: the typical uncomplicated dengue fever, dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHS) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS).