Pneumonia remains top leading causes of death in Guimaras; cases double in Q3

Pneumonia (severe and community-acquired) remained the top leading cause of death in Guimaras in the 1st and 3rd quarters of 2021.

The disease ranked second in the 2nd quarter with 61 cases then doubled in the 3rd quarter.

For Q1-Q3 2021, the number of pneumonia infections moved erratically – from 65 deaths in Q1 to 61 in Q2 or a 6.56 percent drop. The cases then soared to 122 in Q3.

Data also indicated that an average of 41 persons died per month due to Severe/Community-Acquired Pneumonia, and 29 died due to Cerebrovascular and Hypertensive Cardiovascular Diseases per month in the 3rd quarter of 2021.

Among the top six leading causes of deaths, four were male dominated. Severe/Community Acquired Pneumonia has a gender gap of 54.9 percent, Acute/Myocardial Infarction (73.68 percent), Cerebrovascular Disease (62.79 percent), and Hypertensive Cardiovascular Disease (53.41 percent).

Diabetes Mellitus and Severe Sepsis were higher among females with a gender gap of 9.84 percent.

Compared to 2020, only Hypertensive Cardiovascular Disease were female dominated with a gender gap of 56.25%, while Diabetes Mellitus got the same number of cases among females and males. The rest of the top leading causes of death were male-dominated.

In Q1-Q3 of 2021, Guimaras’s total death escalated by 40.78 percent, higher among males than females with a 19.74 percent gender gap.

Severe/Community-Acquired Pneumonia topped among the leading causes of death that claimed 248 lives. Hypertensive Cardiovascular Disease followed with 176 deaths, Cerebrovascular Disease (133), Acute Myocardial Infarction (80), and Diabetes Mellitus (35), based on data from the Decentralized Vital Statistics System DVSS) released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Table 2 shows the total death occurrences in Guimaras with 1,084 than the 770 registered deaths in Q1-Q3 2020.

“Data revealed, a sex ratio of 149 males for every 100 female deaths, lesser than the 166 males per 100 females recorded in Q1-Q3 2020,” Guimaras Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare said.

Across municipalities, Jordan recorded the most fatalities in both years: 290 in Q1-Q3 2020 and 379 deaths in Q1-Q3 2021.

Buenavista and Nueva Valencia followed with 269 and 243 deaths in Q1-Q3 2021, respectively; while San Lorenzo posted 119 deaths in the same reference period. (See Figure 1)

“Sibunag municipality registered the least number of expiries for both reference periods, with 59 in Q1-Q3 2020, and 74 in Q1-Q3 2021,” Losare said.