Fever on day one? Iloilo City says get tested amid 9 dengue deaths

ILOILO CITY — The Iloilo City Health Office (CHO) has urged residents to seek early medical consultation and undergo dengue testing after recording another death, that of a 4-year-old boy who was brought to a health facility only after several days of symptoms.

Dr. Roland Jay Fortuna, assistant city health officer, said the latest death was recorded on Oct. 29 and involved a boy from the City Proper district.

The child developed a fever on Oct. 26 but was initially treated with home remedies.

The fever subsided temporarily but returned the following day, accompanied by vomiting.

Instead of immediately bringing the child to a health center or hospital, the family first sought traditional massage treatment and administered paracetamol, Fortuna said.

By Oct. 28, the child had developed poor appetite, abdominal pain, and lethargy.

He was brought to a health center only on Oct. 29 and was subsequently referred to a hospital.

“Another case of late consultation. Now the test kits we use are the dengue duo, where even on day one of fever we can already catch if the patient is positive for dengue and we can already focus on the monitoring. We appeal that if there is fever, go to the health centers,” Fortuna said in an interview on Nov. 10.

The dengue duo test can detect dengue virus markers during the acute phase of infection, typically within the first seven days of symptoms, with results available in 15 to 20 minutes.

Fortuna said residents can seek consultation even for low-grade fever, particularly when body temperature reaches 37.8 degrees Celsius.

He emphasized that testing is free.

Patients who test negative on the first day of fever may undergo repeat testing on the second or third day if symptoms persist, he added.

“Early detection, early monitoring. If we need to hydrate patients, we have oral hydration in our health centers,” Fortuna said.

As of Nov. 7, Iloilo City had recorded 844 dengue cases, a 46.8% increase from the 575 cases recorded during the same period last year.

The city also logged nine deaths, compared with three in the previous year.

The latest tally adds 59 cases and one death to the 785 cases and eight deaths that CHO head Dr. Mary Ann Diaz reported for Jan. 4 to Oct. 31, when the year-on-year increase stood at 37.7%.

The city’s rise makes it an outlier, as the Department of Health has counted fewer dengue cases nationwide this year than in 2025.

Fortuna reiterated that community cleanup drives remain a major measure to prevent dengue transmission.

Dengue is a viral infection spread by Aedes mosquitoes, which breed in stagnant water in and around homes.

Although dengue cases have exceeded the alert and epidemic thresholds, Fortuna said the CHO also considers other epidemiological indicators before declaring an outbreak.

These include comparisons with the average number of cases over the previous three to five years, the case fatality rate, and the city’s attack rate, or the number of cases relative to its population.

The city government declared a dengue outbreak on Aug. 27, 2024, and later placed the city under a state of calamity, when the CHO count stood at 945 cases and four deaths.

Fortuna said the 844 cases in the city so far are below the 2021-2025 average of 1,004 cases, although he noted that the current figure is higher than the corresponding levels in some previous years.

The city’s current attack rate stands at 182.66, below the 2021-2025 average of 190.74, according to Fortuna.

He added that Iloilo City currently has the second-lowest attack rate compared with provinces.

The city’s case fatality rate has increased to 1.07%, reflecting nine deaths among the 844 recorded cases.