MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) is sounding the alarm on the rising number of dengue cases in the country.
In a statement on Monday, February 17, the DOH said there are eight other local government units (LGUs) that have logged “a concerning rise” in the number of patients with dengue. Quezon City over the weekend already announced a dengue outbreak after 10 succumbed to the viral infection in recent weeks.
Without mentioning specific areas, the department said the affected LGUs are within Metro Manila, Calabarzon, and Central Luzon.
“We cannot announce the name of the LGUs,” DOH spokesman Albert Domingo said in an interview with the ABS-CBN News Channel’s Dateline Philippines.
While the DOH receives information about local situations through its regional offices — which receive reports from their epidemiology and surveillance units at the LGU level — only local officials can declare an outbreak.
Domingo explained that LGUs have that power under Republic Act No. 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act. The department has commended the Quezon City LGU for being proactive in declaring a dengue outbreak.
“We’re hoping that the eight others — they can make a public declaration, they can do it quietly,” Domingo said. “But the response has to come from local government units.”
40% increase in cases
From January 1 to February 1, the DOH has logged 28,234 dengue cases — 40% higher than the cases recorded in the same period in 2024.
The department has noted an increase since the year started. There were 13,980 patients with dengue from December 22, 2024, to January 4, 2025, and then the number went up to 15,088 cases from January 5 to 18.
Despite this, the number of deaths attributed to dengue declined to 0.35% as of February 1, compared with the 0.42% recorded in the same period in 2024.
Aside from dengue, the DOH said on Friday, February 14, that other waterborne diseases such as leptospirosis have been on the rise recently due to the country’s wet weather conditions. The department advised the public to adopt protective measures, including cleaning mosquito breeding sites and wearing anti-repellant lotions, among others.
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said in a separate statement on February 14 that medical consultation should be done as soon as symptoms — like getting a fever, cough, sore throat, having a runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue, vomiting, and diarrhea — start to show to make sure patients get the treatment they need. – Rappler.com