Hundreds of New Dengue Cases Reported in Philippine South

Health authorities rushed to set up medical tents and field hospitals in the southern Philippines Tuesday, as the number of infections rose rapidly, two weeks after a national dengue epidemic was declared in the Southeast Asian nation.

Almost 800 new dengue causes were reported across the northern part of Mindanao island, the Philippines’ main southern island, over the weekend, according to the regional health office. This brought the number of dengue patients nationwide to more than 170,000, including 17,700 in the region, as of Aug. 17, health officials said.

“There are still no signs that the dengue cases are going down. We are still in the danger zone,” David Mendoza, head of the regional epidemiology and disaster response unit, told reporters.

Overall, the number of deaths attributed to the mosquito-borne disease has reached 720 nationwide, from just 622 deaths earlier this month, the health department said. About 70 of the new fatalities were recorded in northern Mindanao.

Among those on top of the list of locations where dengue infections were detected were the provinces of Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental and Occidental, Lanao del Norte, and the island province of Camiguin, the regional health department said.

Full story: BenarNews

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