Boy from Kidapawan is lone death from dengue in Davao City for 2025

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 30 Jan) — A child from Kidapawan, North Cotabato who happened to stay for vacation in Barangay 76-A Bucana during the holidays was the lone dengue death recorded in the city this year, according to the City Health Office’s (CHO) Tropical Diseases division.

Speaking during the iSpeak media conference at the City Hall conference room Thursday morning, CHO-Tropical Diseases head Melodina Babante said that as of their department’s ongoing investigation, the boy possibly had already acquired the virus in Kidapawan before visiting here.

The fatality came to Davao for a vacation with his mother, Babante said. While he was in Bucana, he already felt fever, and rushed to the hospital, until his eventual death. His remains are now in his hometown.

Dengue has an incubation period of 4 to 10 days after being bitten by an infected aedes mosquito.

After incubation, symptoms typically develop and last until 7 days before a possible recovery to a patient.

Davao City recorded 141 cases from Jan. 1 to 15, a 37-percent decrease compared to 225 cases during the same period last year.

Barangay 76-A Bucana recorded 10 cases, the most in the city.

Babante said that Bucana does not have an active Barangay Mosquito-Borne Viral Disease Task Force. As of Jan. 28, 2025, only 54 barangays were compliant with this ordinance, specifically City Ordinance No. 0401-20, Series of 2020, she added.

“That’s why we encourage every barangay to create them, and not just be reactive when cases surge,” Babante said in Cebuano.

The ordinance was passed by the City Council to mandate barangays to create viral disease task forces, and also to penalize individuals found to have mosquito-breeding sites in their homes in an attempt to combat dengue.

Babante said dengue cases rose by 4.5 percent in 2024, with 7,089 cases compared to 6,784 in 2023, according to the City Health Office. Deaths also increased slightly, from 52 in 2023 to 55 in 2024.

The World Health Organization (WHO) describes dengue as a viral infection transmitted through mosquito bites. The disease has various serotypes, including dengue virus types (DENV) 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Among the signs exhibited by a dengue victim include sudden onset of high fever that may last from two to seven days, joint and muscle pain and pain behind the eyes, weakness, skin rashes, nose bleeding when fever starts to subside, abdominal pain, vomiting of coffee-colored matter, dark-colored stools, and difficulty of breathing. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)