DOH expands antidengue drive to Visayas
TO MARK the annual celebration of the Asean Dengue Day in the country, the Department of Health (DOH) has expanded its ongoing school-based dengue immunization program to the Visayas.
Health Secretary Janette Loreto-Garin said: “This year’s Asean Dengue Day is a significant milestone in our country as we are expanding our dengue vaccination through a school-based immunization approach. We are the first country to introduce, adopt and implement the first-ever dengue vaccine through the public health system and under the public school setting. With this breakthrough, we can now increase our immunization services to address a disease that is of public health importance.”
As the fourth in the country with the highest number of reported dengue cases since January 2016, the DOH decided to include Central Visayas (Region VII) to its targeted areas. Among these targeted area are Central Luzon (Region III), Calabarzon (Region IV-A) and the National Capital Region (NCR).
Region VII is made up of the provinces of Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental and Siquijor, and the cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue.
As of June 12, a total of 300,087 Grade 4 pupils aged 9 years old and above (with parental consent) have been vaccinated in the initial three regions.
Two more doses
These same students are scheduled to receive two more doses. The administration of the first dose started in April and will end this month. This will be followed by the second dose in October and will last until December. The third and final dose will be administered between April and June 2017.
Strict surveillance is being conducted to identify reactions with the vaccines. To date, less than 1 percent adverse event following immunization was reported, majority of which are mild reactions such as fever, dizziness, vomiting and rash.
According to Garin, the Philippines had the highest incidence of dengue cases in the Western Pacific Region from 2013 to 2015. As of June 4, 2016, a total of 49,904 suspected dengue cases were already reported nationwide.
Most of the cases were from Region IV-A (6,887 or 13.8 percent of the current number of cases), Region III (5,141 or 10.8 percent) and Region VII (5,018 or 10.7 percent). Majority of the cases were males
5-14 years old.
There were 190 deaths reported within that period.
One of many means
The health chief, however, added that the dengue vaccines are not the only solution to fight dengue and is just one of the many interventions that the country has initiated against dengue.
“We will continue to fight against mosquito-borne diseases through the ‘4S campaign.’ The 4S means search and destroy mosquito-breeding places; use self- protection measures; seek early consultation for fever lasting more than two days; and say ‘no’ to indiscriminate fogging. Sa tamang impormasyon at sama-samang aksyon, protektahan natin ang ating pamilya laban sa dengue,” said Garin.
As one of the member states supporting the Asian Dengue Vaccination Advocacy
(Adva), the Philippines has also welcomed the New Dengue Mission Buzz Barometer, an online site—www.denguemissionbuzz.org —that seeks to provide a dynamic comparison of dengue preparedness among member countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The Dengue Mission Buzz Barometer features a Dengue Readiness Quiz to help site visitors gauge their level of dengue prevention readiness.
Public awareness
“By launching the Dengue Mission Buzz portal in conjunction with Asean Dengue Day, we hope to increase public awareness of dengue and its prevention in an engaging and interactive way, while encouraging greater vigilance against the disease in the region,” said Prof. Usa Thisyakorn, chair of Adva.
Quiz results from the Philippines as well as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam will be dynamically displayed on a scoreboard on the site and participants are encouraged to share their quiz results and completion badges on social media.
The website, which presents valuable news, videos and information about dengue prevention and is available in multiple languages, aims to educate at least 25,000 citizens in these countries with the quiz.
Aside from the website, the DOH informed that it has set up other activities to raise awareness on dengue prevention including lay forum on disease awareness and a cleanup activity that starts at 4 p.m. to emphasize the 4 o’clock habit.
Dengue is the fastest growing mosquito-borne disease in the world today, causing nearly 400 million infections every year. In the last 50 years, dengue has spread from being present in a handful of countries to being endemic in 128 countries, where about 4 billion people live.
Dengue incidence has likewise increased 30-fold in this period. In Southeast Asia, the economic and disease burden of dengue surpasses that of 17 other diseases including upper respiratory infections and hepatitis B.
