Cebu City Plagued with Dengue Fever Deaths
Cebu City recently saw the death of a three year old little girl. The number of dengue cases in Cebu has fallen by nearly a third. Down from over 1500 to just over 1000 so far this year. But the number of deaths in the city has risen dramatically.
With more than a month left in the year, the number of deaths has risen from 26 for all of last year to 46 so far this year.
The health department warns parents to take measures to protect their children from “dengue carrying mosquitoes.” That would include making sure there is no standing water for them to breed in. The officials are also spraying for mosquitoes. It seems that with the number of cases going down so much, that both the citizens and the officials are doing things to reduce the problem. It is sad that the number of deaths to go up.
Dengue fever is known to many westerners as encephalitis. The young and the old are most vulnerable as their immune systems are usually weaker. All of the deaths in Cebu City have been children ranging in age from 2 months to 17 years old. The symptoms of the illness include fever and severe headache.
The flooding that regularly occurs in the Philippines maks it hard to control the spread of the mosquitoes. As it subsides, pools of standing water are left behind. Frequent rains during the monsoon season refill the pools of water. Guadalupe, within Metro Cebu has been hard hit by floods in the last year.
It is surprising that deaths have gone up as there have been increased education for medical professionals and free screening if you suspect you or your child might have encephalitis. Early treatment is crucial as the illness can cause the brain to swell which can cause brain damage and death.
If in doubt, and someone is sick, don’t wait as quick action can save lives of our precious children. Never forget that dengue is a killer.
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Problem is many of the figures are hidden. E.g. those very poor (who are the majority!) will never seek medical help.. whats the point they cant pay the bills?
I was struck down with dengue earlier this year and it took me straight off my feet for a few weeks, recovery wise it took me around 2 – 4 months and even now my skin on my hands remains blotched.
I wrote an article on it at the time :-
http://tropicalpenpals.com/blog/?s=dengue
your free to post or delete it but there is also an “advised” list of what injections and tablets people may need to visit the Philippines.(ive also added you onto my mainpage for other visitors/expats)
Wow, that’s not an illness that I want to deal with… Many people, most I think never fully recover.
Ive had one confirmed and then 6 months later a maybe version of dengue as it made me ill but the first batch really wiped me out close to death would be pretty close to the way i felt. But the Milk Milk plant is a good cure although not proven yet (they dont know how it works)it is proven it does do something so identifying plants is so important especially if you grow some in the garden incase of emergencies. I still have some affects of Dengue and its got to be a year on by now..
What part of the Philippines do you live? I wanted to check out Valencia but after reading about the huge problem they have had with Dengue, I thought it might be better to just stay put.
Im in Minglanilla just South of Cebu City along the SRP. I think this year im going to look to get into community projects more as Dengue has a lot to do with poor housekeeping. So even getting people to dump rubbish in oil drums for burning rather than stacking it up could make a huge difference. Ok its not enviromental but its a temporary solution that could work.
I lived in Talisay for about three months. Never even saw a mesquito, I think the air pollution killed them all.
hardly any birds as well.
Not environmental? I don’t follow you. The environment is the key, or so I thought. Seems whenever there is a break out the city officials blame it on the citizens. I think spraying for them or the lack of it is the problem but people can do more too.
I see a lot more of them here in Bogo City. I altered where and when I walk because of them. I didn’t come all the way here just to have my brain swell, I could do that any time in Memphis, just by walking down the street and get mugged!
Environmental as in burning all the rubbish. Causes a lot of air pollution. But cleaning up is the best solution to the problem. All the excess tyres and other things make it prime for the disease to spread. Im back in the UK for a few months so have bought some light weight jogging bottoms for lounging round the house as it will keep my legs covered even if i go out for a while in the afternoon when the mosquitos are about (its a different mosquito to that of malaria). Minglanillas outbreak was caused due to the money disappearing before and emergency clean up then had to be done which cost more than the budget that was originally allocated. There is also plants that mosquitos dont like could be worth getting some hanging baskets and plants on the outside of windows to help reduce risks. Not paranoid just suggestions lol.. One idea im looking at is getting a barrel pre-drilled and putting it where they dump all the crap as it means they can keep the area tidy and just burn it. Although no doubt i would get the blame if the neighbourhood burned down..
My niece just leave the hospital last week due to dengue. Lucky because he is 15 year old which is not as risk as young child.