DENGUE cases almost doubled in the six months to July to 167,607 from a year earlier, the Department of Health said yesterday, weeks after declaring a national epidemic for the viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes.

In a report, the agency’s Epidemiology Bureau also said 720 people have died from dengue, 55% higher than a year earlier.

(DoH) reports there are nearly 170,000 cases of dengue from January to July, following its declaration of a National Dengue Epidemic last week.

Dengue cases rose 70% from a year earlier to 12,880 for the week ending on July 27, the Health department said, adding that 39 people died for that week alone.

About 23% or 38,268 of the victims as of July were children aged 5 to 9 years, the agency said.

Last week, the Health department declared a dengue epidemic nationwide.

Western Visayas had the most number of dengue cases at 27,765 followed by Calabarzon — Cavite, Laguna, Rizal ad Quezon with 19,732, Northern Mindanao (14,349), Zamboanga Peninsula (13,579) and Central Visayas (11,217).

The local peak in dengue cases reflects a global spike that happens every three years, the World Health Organization earlier said.

Science cannot explain the three-year spike that has been observed globally. Dengue, which causes fever and acute pains in the joints, has now erupted in places that have not seen the disease before, according to WHO. — Gillian M. Cortez

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