BAGUIO CITY (PIA) – – The Department of Health – Cordillera cautions the public anew on Influenza- like illnesses (ILI) and other notifiable diseases that are on the rise.
Based on DOH – CAR monitoring, 4,023 cases of ILI, a sickness associated with fever, cough and sore throat, were recorded from January 1 to September 2 of this year, a 38 percent increase compared to the 2,923 cases recorded during the same period in 2022.
Benguet recorded the highest cases with 1,471, followed by Baguio City at 1,182, Kalinga with 611 and Apayao with 200. All Cordillera provinces except Abra and Mountain Province, showed an increasing trend.
The DOH – CAR also recorded rising cases of Leptospirosis, a bacterial infection from animals to humans usually from infected waters such as floodwaters. From Jan. 1 to Sept. 2, DOH – CAR recorded 131 cases and 10 deaths. The recorded cases also show a 77% increase compared to the 74 cases recorded last year.
The health department also reiterated its advisory against vector–borne diseases such as Chikungunya and Dengue.
Chikungunya cases in Cordillera jumped to 131 cases as of Sept. 2 this year with 10 recorded deaths, from only six cases in 2022.
For Dengue, a total of 4,207 cases recorded during the monitoring period. Though it showed decreasing trend, the number is still in the “above alert threshold”.
DOH–CAR Senior Health Program Officer Jethro Simeon reported these updates in a recent Kapihan media forum, here.
He reiterated the importance of continuing adherence to the minimum public health standard and a whole of government and whole of community approach in ensuring environmental, hygiene and sanitation practices and in intensifying vector control. **JDP/CCD-PIA CAR
