Mention the word “dengue” anywhere in the country--especially during the rainy season--and you’re likely to be met with shivers as a response. This deadly disease is a scourge during the rainy season, with the dreaded Aedes aegypti mosquito hounding the densely populated streets of urban areas in the country.

If we go by the numbers game, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports that there are a total of 45,333 dengue patients since January of this year, with 267 cases that resulted in fatalities. While these figures reflect a general drop in the number of dengue patients last year, we shouldn't feel too complacent about the disease. For one thing, the same report indicates numbers in Metro Manila are on the rise, as did this ABS-CBNNews.com report, which indicated that the number of cases reported in the metro between January and August of this year had almost doubled when compared to a similar time frame in 2010.

While it's good to be cautious about any possible dengue symptoms displayed by you, your friends, or your family members, remember that panicking won't help anyone. Ante up your dengue defense by checking out these dengue info.


Learn more about dengue from these FN articles:

• Dengue Cases Reach Alarming Rates
• 5 Tips for Dengue Prevention