BAGUIO CITY — The Cordillera office of the Center for Health Development (CHD) here disclosed that dengue cases in the different parts of the region have increased by 39.1 percent for the first 38 weeks of this year, compared to the same period last year.

Health officials attributed the continuous increase in dengue fever cases to the increase in the amount of rainfall which translates to the increase in the breeding grounds of dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

Furthermore, they claimed residents have been reportedly complacent in cleaning their surroundings, thus, more breeding sites for the dengue-carrying mosquitoes have been noted, especially in populated areas which result in the existence of clustered cases.

Dr. Myrna Cabotaje, CHD-CAR regional director, said Kalinga province recorded the highest increase in the number of dengue fever cases which was pegged at over 1,200 percent with 190 cases this year compared to the 16 cases for the same period last year.

At the same time, dengue cases in Benguet rose by 32.4 percent with 155 dengue fever cases this year compared to 117 cases last year.

While Ifugao and Apayao also recorded significant increases in the number of dengue fever cases with 167 and 62 cases compared to only 34 and 78 cases last year, respectively.

However, this city recorded a 16.1 percent decrease in dengue fever cases with 129 compared to last year’s 173 cases.

Abra also recorded a 16.8 percent decrease with 31 compared to last year’s 71 dengue fever cases.

Cabotaje asserted the best weapon to prevent individuals from being affected with dengue fever is vigilance coupled with the observance of the four means to curb the proliferation of dengue in a certain community.

Among the preventive measures versus dengue include the search and destroy of the breeding sites of dengue-carrying mosquitoes, seek an immediate consultation, self protection and say no to fogging.

Compared to the three dengue-related cases last year, the Cordillera had nine dengue-related deaths with three deaths each from Benguet, Ifugao and Kalinga.

Experts disclosed that dengue fever cases usually occur in a cyclic trend every three years depending on the prevailing situation, thus, people must always keep their surroundings clean as the primary means to rid the prevalence of the dreaded virus.