By R. G. Antonet Go/PNA
ZAMBOANGA CITY — The local government, through the City Health Office, continues to closely monitor measles and dengue as cases continue to be reported in this city.
Dr. Annie Rose Amar of the City Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (CESU) on Tuesday said that the measles outbreak declaration remains in place with cases still being reported.
Amar added that they cannot lift the outbreak status since three measles cases were recorded in the past three weeks, bringing the total number of reported cases to 495 since January of this year.
“We need to have zero cases for the past three weeks,” she said.
She said they have also recorded a rising number of dengue cases since September this year.
Amar said the data they gathered showed that the dengue cases for September, October and November are higher compared to the cases reported in the previous year, covering the same months.
She said there were 208 dengue cases recorded in September this year, which is higher by 99 compared to the 109 cases reported in the same month last year.
For October this year, she said they have recorded 155 dengue cases as compared to 88 cases in October of last year.
Amar said 94 dengue cases have so far been reported in November, this year, in comparison to the 90 cases reported in the same month last year.
She said they continuously monitor the situation although the recorded cases of measles and dengue are still below the epidemic and alert thresholds.
