ZAMBOANGA CITY, 25 June 2004 — At least 44 people stricken have been hospitalized in the southern Philippine town of Ipil, and health workers moved to prevent the outbreak from getting out of hand, residents said yesterday.
One patient was reported to have died in hospital and a dozen villages were affected by disease, said Elmer delos Reyes, who contacted a radio network DXRZ Radyo Agong in Zamboanga City to report the outbreak of the deadly hemorrhagic fever.
“Most of the patients are children, although there are some adults. One of the patient had already died,” he told the radio network.
Delos Reyes said a team of health experts from Zamboanga City was already in Ipil to check on the condition of the patients. “We are appealing for help, we need more medicines for those affected with the viral disease,” he said.
Dengue fever is an acute febrile viral disease. Patients complain of headaches, bone or joint and muscular pains, rash and leucopenia. It is characterized by high fever, hemorrhagic phenomena and in severe cases, signs of circulatory failure.
Patients may develop dengue shock syndrome and can be fatal. The World Health Organization said some 24,00 people die from an estimated 50 million cases of dengue infection each year. People get dengue virus infections from the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito.
