By NewsDesk  @bactiman63

From the beginning of the year through May, Philippines health officials are reporting some 77,000 dengue fever cases and more than 300 fatalities.

Image/CDC, outbreaknewstoday.com

And if nothing is done, this number will get much higher, according to a statement by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III (computer translated).

Duque is projecting large numbers of cases of the mosquito-borne infection before the year ends “if nothing will be done” to curb the increase.

“If you look at the number and you do some computations, you get around 240,000. Dengue is a personal and community concern, and we can still prevent this fagain last year.rom happening if we all do our part,” Duque said.

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The secretary explained that dengue is not seasonal problem only in the Philippines, but is considered a year round issue.

The Philippines reported in excess of 200,000 cases in 2015, 2016 and again last year.

Secretary Duque made this projection in June–National Dengue Awareness Month.

Dengue is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito infected with one of the four dengue virus serotypes. It is a febrile illness that affects infants, young children and adults with symptoms appearing 3-14 days after the infective bite.

Dengue is not transmitted directly from person-to-person and symptoms range from mild fever, to incapacitating high fever, with severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain, and rash.

Severe dengue (also known as dengue hemorrhagic fever) is characterized by fever, abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, bleeding and breathing difficulty and is a potentially lethal complication, affecting mainly children.

In the past 50 years, the incidence of dengue worldwide has increased 30-fold, largely as a consequence of the growth of cities and increased travel.

According to a 2013 WHO report between 1955 and 1959, the number of countries reporting cases of dengue increased from three to eight; in 2012, the geographical distribution of dengue included more than 125 countries.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates there may be 50–100 million dengue infections worldwide every year. However,there was 2013 research from the University of Oxford and the Wellcome Trust, using cartographic approaches, estimate there to be 390 million dengue infections per year worldwide.

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