By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Provincial Health Office (PHO) head, Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, expressed concern over the dengue mortality rate in the province, citing gaps in dengue monitoring.
“The mortality rate is more than one percent which is not good,” he said, adding, a proposal to create a dengue mortality team is in the forthcoming.
“We have to review and assess it all so that we will know where we are lacking and correct it to prevent more deaths in the next years,” Tumimbang stressed.
According to PHO records, there were 800 dengue cases reported from January to May this year, leading to nine casualties.
Initially, Tumimbang attributed the high death rate from dengue to delays in referrals, patients suffering from the virus a second time, and medical protocols.
The City Health Office (CHO) in Bacolod earlier reported a 96 percent increase in dengue cases in the first five months of 2017, with 310 patients and four deaths recorded./WDJ