By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

Health officials in the Eastern Visayas region (Region 8) of the Philippines are reporting a three-fold increase in dengue fever cases this year compared to 2018.

Image/CDC

For the first eight months of 2019, officials 17,670 cases and 53 deaths.

This is 327.12 percent higher compared to the same period in 2018 when only 4,134 cases were recorded. There were only 26 deaths from January to August last year.

Leyte has seen the most cases in the region with 4,633 cases or 26 percent of the regional total, with 2,248 cases reported in Tacloban alone.

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This is followed by Samar (3,014 cases), Eastern Samar (2,190 cases), Northern Samar (1,371 cases) and Biliran (548 cases).

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Of the six provinces in the region, only Biliran and Northern Samar have not declared a state of calamity due to dengue.

The cities of Ormoc and Tacloban have both declared a state of calamity due to the spike in dengue cases.

Nationally, the Philippines has reported 229,736 dengue cases, including 958 deaths with a 0.42% case fatality rate year to date.

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