BACOLOD City – A total of 1,802 cases of dengue and four deaths were recorded in this city as of October 5.
Data from the City Health Office (CHO) showed the figure logged from January 1 to October 5 this year is 297.8 percent higher than the 453 cases with three deaths listed in the same period last year.
This year’s four fatalities were from barangays Estefania, 16, Felisa, and Sum-ag, CHO said.
The CHO had earlier said that the spike in dengue cases is due to the rainy season where there is an increase in breeding sites for Aedes mosquitoes, which transmit the dengue virus.
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne illness caused by the dengue virus, transmitted primarily by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. It can lead to a range of symptoms from mild fever to severe conditions like hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome.
On the other hand, the CHO reported that leptospirosis cases decreased by 73.7 percent this year.
From last year’s 76 cases with 14 deaths, the city has so far recorded a total of 20 leptospirosis cases with six deaths.
Barangays Pahanocoy and Punta Taytay logged two deaths each and one death each for barangays 6 and Estefania.
Despite this downward trend, the CHO reminded the public to avoid wading through rainwater to avoid the bacterial disease that spreads through direct contact with urine from infected animals or environments contaminated with urine./PN
