By NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews
After reporting more than 400,000 dengue fever cases and more than 1700 dengue related deaths in 2019, Philippines health officials reported some good news in 2020 so far–dengue fever cases are down some 45 percent compared to the same period last year.
In an online press briefing on Monday, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the surveillance report of the department’s epidemiology bureau showed that the number of dengue cases was 46 percent lower than the same time in 2019.
According to a World Health Organization Dengue Situation Update for the Western Pacific Region, the Philippines report a cumulative total 49,234 dengue cases from 1 January to 16 May 2020 (weeks 1-20).
This compares to 86,011 cases reported in the same period in 2019.
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection causing a severe flu-like illness and, sometimes causing a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue. Approximately, half of the world’s population is at risk and it affects infants, young children and adults. The incidence of dengue has increased 30-fold over the last 50 years. Up to 50-100 million infections are now estimated to occur annually in over 100 endemic countries, putting almost half of the world’s population at risk.
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