No new dengue virus strain – DOH

Dengue strains in the country remain at four as the Department of Health (DOH) debunked reports that a new strain of dengue has been circulating the country.

The health department, which recently declared a national dengue epidemic clarified that “there are no mutant strains of dengue virus being monitored or reported in the Philippines.”

It stressed that dengue strains in the country remain at four – DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3, and DENV-4.

“Neither the DOH official nor the Secretary of Health mentioned a new strain of dengue virus,” the department said.

Earlier, Dr. Ferchito Avelino, officerin-charge of the DOH Epidemiology Bureau, was quoted saying that a different dengue strain might be the main cause of the spike in dengue cases.

Avelino was also quoted saying, “currently we are seeing a zero-type 3 strain circulating in the country” but we didn’t have that in the previous years. However, the DOH noted that the predominant dengue strain changes annually.

“Among the four recorded dengue strains, DENV-3 is the predominant strain in the country this year,” the agency said.

The DENV-1 causes pain behind the eyes while DENV-2 is more associated with the symptoms of nose bleeding and blood streaked vomiting. The DENV-3 and DENV-4 carries symptoms of fever, muscle pain, headache, loss of appetite, vomiting, and diarrhea.

A national dengue epidemic was recently declared due to the growing number of dengue cases. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that the situation is going to be staggering which was the compelling reason to declare a national dengue epidemic to identify where a localized response is needed.