- CHERYL G. CRUZ
Dengue cases in Western Visayas reached 2,933 in the first five months of this year, up by 17 percent from the 2,498 infections logged in the same period last year, the Department of Health Region 6 said May 24.
It added that there were eight dengue fatalities from Jan. 1 to May 18, with one new death each logged in Negros Occidental and Capiz, as of the May 12-18 monitoring.
The death of a 28-year-old female brings to three the number of dengue fatalities in Negros Occidental; Iloilo Province also logged three, and one each in Aklan and Capiz, since the start of this year.
There were 96 newly-reported cases in Western Visayas, with Iloilo Province having the most number of new infections at 33, for a total of 913 cases; Bacolod City, 18 new cases (141 total); and Aklan, 14 new cases (481 total).
The DOH WV CHD Regional Vector-borne Diseases said increased attack rate of dengue has been noted this year in the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, and Guimaras, with clustering of cases in 12 barangays in Western Visayas./CGC
