Dengue fever is one of the eight pervasive infectious diseases in the Philippines with an annual average of 118,080 reported cases between 2008 to 2012, according to Prof. Donald Shepard of the Brandeis University.

Shepard said this at the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) conference at Clark Freeport, Pampanga, Philippines. The theme of the two-day event was “ASEAN Unity and Harmony: A Key to Combat Dengue. “

In fact, Dr. Shepard also noted that the Philippines is the fourth in dengue burden in Southeast Asia. In 2013, the archipelago reported about 120,000 dengue cases.

However, there is good news coming from the Philippines Department of Health concerning dengue fever in 2014 to date. On the Twitter page of Dr Eric Tayag; Director/Asec Dept of Health it said, “23,867 # dengue cases this year from Jan to May 31 Leesuy adds this is more than 50% reduction compared to 2013 # aseandengueday2014″

This compares to the period of January to June 8, 2013 where the National Epidemiology Center logged in a total of 42,207 cases and 193 deaths due to dengue.

Dengue fever is an infectious disease carried by mosquitoes and caused by any of four related dengue viruses. This disease used to be called “break-bone fever” because it sometimes causes severe joint and muscle pain that feels like bones are breaking.

People get the dengue virus from the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. It is not contagious from person to person. For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page

There are three types of dengue fever in order of less severe to most: the typical uncomplicated dengue fever, dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHS) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). Looking for a job in health care? Check here to see what’s available

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates there may be 50–100 million dengue infections worldwide every year. However, new research from the University of Oxford and the Wellcome Trust, using cartographic approaches, estimate there to be 390 million dengue infections per year worldwide.