Mobility contributes to higher dengue cases 

Increased mobility is one of the causes seen to have contributed to higher dengue cases this year compared to 2021, a health official said in a report by Philippine News Agency.

In a Viber message to reporters, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said there were low cases of dengue in the past two years of the pandemic because there was less mobility of the population.

“Less interaction among people, schools were closed, so as with other establishments,” she said. “People were at home most of the time, and this contributed to lesser infections”.

Different regions have been reporting increased dengue cases this year.

On Wednesday, the Department of Health (DOH) reported a rise in cases in Eastern Visayas this week with seven deaths and 1,856 patients downed by mosquito bites from January 1 to June 11 this year.

In Western Visayas, the DOH said Negros Occidental province recorded an increase of 456 percent from January 1 to June 4.

Negros Occidental has logged 984 cases, including six deaths; from only 177 cases, with three deaths, during the same period in 2021.

Negros Oriental logged 478 dengue cases from January 1 to June 11 and three deaths, which is 44 percent higher than the 268 cases and zero deaths during the same period last year.