MANILA, Philippines—Dengue fever has killed at least 491 people, mostly children, throughout the Philippines in the first seven months of 2019, the figures showing why the Department of Health (DOH) declared a national health emergency to raise concern over the spread of the killer mosquito-borne disease.

The fatality figure for 2019 was 155 deaths higher than that of 2018 which saw 336 deaths for the same period.

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Recent DOH data showed that the number of dengue cases nationwide spiked by 22 percent to 5,744 from June 30 to July 6, 2019 from 4,703 cases reported in the same period in 2018.

The DOH also reported that 115,986 cases of dengue had been reported from Jan 1-July 6, 2019 or nearly double the number of cases—62,267–in the same period in 2018.

The health department had declared an epidemic in five regions.

Nearly a fourth of the cases (23 percent) involved children aged 5-9 years old and 19 percent involved children 10-14 years old.

DOH data said more males than females were stricken ill—52 percent, or more than half, while 48 percent of patients were females.

Health Secretary Feancisco Duque, on Monday (July 15), declared a national health emergency amid a sharp spike in the number of dengue cases. Female aedes egypti mosquitoes are the main carriers of the dengue virus, which is transmitted by mosquito bites./tsb

READ: DOH declares national dengue alert

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