BREAKING: DOH declares National Dengue Alert

Be vigilant, Philippines.

The Department of Health (DOH) just declared a national dengue alert because of the rapid increase of reported cases of the mosquito-borne viral illness caused by female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in several regions in the country.

DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said from January 1 to June 29, 2019, 106,630 dengue cases have been reported nationwide, an 85 percent increase from the 57,564 cases reported over the same period last year.

Aedes aegypti mosquito (photo credit to PDI)

“This is the first time that we’re declaring a national alert. Because the objective is very clear. We want to raise awareness among the public and more importantly, in communities where signs of early dengue increases are evident,” Duque

But the DOH secretary was quick to clarify that there is no national epidemic as the cases of dengue are localized.

“We don’t have a national epidemic. It’s localized. As I have mentioned, the top among the regions would be Western Visayas, followed by Calabarzon, Central Visayas, Soccsksargen and Northern Mindanao. There is no national epidemic but there is certainly regional” added Duque.


The five mentioned regions have the exceeded the epidemic threshold.

As per the DOH the following regions, on the other hand, are being monitored after exceeding the alert threshold: Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon, Bicol region, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Davao region, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Cordillera Administrative Region.

“Dengue is a viral disease with no known vaccine or specific antivirals,” Duque explained.

“Effective surveillance can also help in reducing cases and deaths if areas with clustering of cases are identified early.”

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Report from PDI