Seventeen more cases of firecracker-related injuries were recorded nationwide which brought the caseload before the New Year 35% higher than last year, the Department of Health (DOH) said Sunday.
Based on DOH’s monitoring of 62 sentinel sites, the overall number of injuries due to fireworks starting December 22 up to 6 a.m. of December 29 has reached 142. This was an increase from the 105 cases logged during the same period in 2023.
Of the total cases so far this year, 104 (73%) were caused by illegal fireworks like boga, 5-star, and piccolo, and 85 (60%) were actively using them.
There were 115 of the victims who were teens aged 19 and below, while the rest were 20 years old and…