DOH launches anti-dengue campaign amid rising cases

LOOK: Health Secretary Ted Herbosa and Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte lead the “Alas Kwatro, Kontra Mosquito!” campaign, as part of the government’s intensified dengue prevention and control efforts. @gmanews @gmanewsbreaking pic.twitter.com/TR6UKP0kaV

— Giselle Ombay (@giselleombay_) February 24, 2025

The Department of Health (DOH) launched Monday a nationwide campaign in a bid to prevent and control the spread of dengue-bearing mosquitos in the country.

In an ambush interview, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said that only the National Capital Region, Calabarzon, and Central Luzon showed an increase in dengue cases in the recent weeks, but the DOH opted to extend its dengue prevention and control efforts nationwide to prevent the uptick of cases in other areas.

So far, only Quezon City has declared a dengue outbreak, with eight more areas expected to announce the same.

“Ang declaration is makikipagusap sa epidemiology bureau para to confirm talaga na more than the threshold…Ang dengue kasi endemic sa Pilipinas, all year round may dengue tayo,” Herbosa told reporters.

(Before declaring an outbreak, the local government has to talk with our epidemiology bureau to confirm if the area really has cases beyond the threshold. This is because dengue is endemic in the Philippines and we have dengue cases all year round.)

Herbosa, along with Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, led the roll out of the “Alas Kwatro, Kontra Mosquito!” campaign by going around the Barangay Batasan Hills to clean up, distribute larvicides, and teach the community about dengue symptoms to watch out for.

Belmonte said dengue cases in QC this year already soared to 2,383—higher by 251% as compared to the cases during the same period last year.

“Pero I think pababa na ‘yung trajectory because ngayon napaka-bilis ng health-seeking behavior ng mga tao. Dati hindi sila pumunta sa health center o sa hospital kung may symptoms and that is the reason why we have about 11 deaths,” the mayor said.

(But I think the trajectory is going down because now the health-seeking behavior of people is very fast. Before, they’re not going to the health center or the hospital if they have symptoms and that is the reason why we have about 11 deaths.)

Aside from Quezon City, the clean-up drive was simultaneously done in Iloilo, Antique, Aklan, Guimaras, Negros Occidental, Davao, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Sarangani, and General Santos City.

Dengue vaccines

With regard to the new dengue vaccine, Herbosa said that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is still seeking a few requirements from the manufacturer before its application can be approved. 

“Kinausap ko last week ‘yung director general ng FDA, may hinihingi pa sila kasi parang nag-pull out din ito sa application nila sa Singapore at sa United States FDA. So tinatanong pa ‘yun. Tsaka may isa pang hinihingi sa kanila, ‘yung risk management plan,” he said.

(I talked with the FDA director general last week, and he told me that they are still asking for something because it seems that the manufacturer pulled out of its application in Singapore and the United States FDA. So that's still being questioned. Aside from that, the FDA is asking about their risk management plan.)

“So the moment masubmit nila yun, pwedeng magkaroon ng bakuna. Pero ‘yung bakuna, hindi natin ginagamit pag may outbreak. Kasi ang bakuna, kailangan mo ng 2 or 3 doses tapos may booster ka after 6 months. So hindi siya yung sagot sa outbreak,” he added.

(So the moment they submit that, there can be a vaccine. But we don't use the vaccine when there is an outbreak. Because people will be needing 2 or 3 doses of the vaccine and get a booster after 6 months. So that is not the answer to the outbreak.)

The solution, Herbosa pointed out, is cleanliness and vector control, that’s why the DOH launched the nationwide anti-dengue campaign.

Last week, the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) said it would write a letter to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., urging him to grant public access to new-generation dengue vaccines.

The DOH said Friday it was observing a "slowdown" in the trend of dengue cases recorded over the past four weeks nationwide. The cases dipped by 5% from 15,904 infections on January 5 to 18, to 15,134 cases on January 19 to February 15.

Since the year started up to February 15, the DOH logged a total of 43,732 cases all over the country —56% higher than the 27,995 infections in the same period in 2024.

The case fatality rate, however, remained low at 0.38%.

Most dengue cases were found in three regions that account for more than half of cases nationwide: Calabarzon (9,113), National Capital Region (7,551), and Central Luzon (7,362).

Of these regions, 17 areas are considered dengue hot spots.

Data also showed that most cases involved children aged 10 to 14, as well as those aged 5 to 9. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News