Assistant Iloilo City health officer Dr. Roland Jay Fortuna said the health office is monitoring 5 barangays in Lapuz district where a clustering of dengue cases has been recorded, while Brgy. So-oc in Arevalo has been identified as a hotspot area.
There is a clustering of cases when a barangay has 3 or more cases in 4 consecutive weeks while a hotspot has an increasing or clustering of cases in 4 weeks and 1 or more deaths.
Dr. Fortuna, on Friday identified barangays Bo. Obrero with 7 cases, Sinikway and Don Esteban with 4 cases each and Rizal Sur and Mansaya with 3 cases each to have clustering of cases in Lapuz district.
From January 1 to February 2 the city has 48 cases, 12 are still active, 29 have already recovered, and 2 deaths.
Meanwhile, Dr. Maria Socorro Quiñon of the Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) said on Thursday that from January 1-28 this year, the province has already 90 cases of dengue, compared with 40 cases for the same period last year.
“We attribute this increase in cases to the continual rains, which create breeding sites,” she said. Dr. Quiñon added that the continuing dengue transmission in areas where cases were detected last year also led to the rise.
The IPHO identified the towns with high cases as Estancia with 9, Barotac Nuevo 8, Cabatuan 6, Ajuy, Alimodian, Balasan, and Carles with 5 each, 4 each in Pototan, Oton, and Calinog, 3 each in Banate, San Joaquin and Pavia, and 2 each in Concepcion, San Dionisio, Tigbauan Janiuay, Passi City, Badiangan, Dueñas, San Miguel and Barotac Viejo.
The towns of Batad, Dumangas, Lambunao, Sta. Barbara, Anilao, Bingawan, Dingle, and Miagao have 1 case each.
Likewise, the IPHO has monitored rising cases of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) among children with 674 from January 1-28 compared with only 2 cases for the same period last year.
The towns with the most cases included Sta. Barbara with 90, Barotac Viejo 48, Alimodian 43, Badiangan 42, Calinog and Leon 39 each, Pototan 37, San Dionisio 33, Bingawan 32, and Pavia with 31 cases.
In Iloilo City HFMD cases have increased to 139 as of February 2. Of these 95 have recovered, 40 are active and 4 are new cases.
“This is common among age group 10 years old and younger. With our case, majority of our cases are 1 to 10 year old with 118 cases,” Dr. Fortuna said.
