The Department of Health recently said it is expecting the incidence of influenza-like illnesses (ILI) in the country to continue to rise due to the proliferation of viruses during the rainy season and cooler months, as DOH figures show that a total of 13,637 ILI cases have been reported since the start of the year, as of September 16, with an 8 percent increase in confirmed infections two weeks ago.
The World Health Organization defines ILI as an acute respiratory infection with a measured fever of 38 degrees Celsius and above, accompanied by cough for around 10 days.
The DOH noted that ILI infections in the past month have been climbing, attributing the case trend to worsening weather conditions – “from increased heat and high humidity in the summer to wet and damp weather conditions.”
Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases in the country have been showing a slight increase in recent weeks, according to its latest weekly case bulletin.
During the budget deliberations in the Senate last week, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire allayed fears that the ILI reported in various schools in Cagayan de Oro City was due to the spread of the contagious zoonotic disease Nipah virus. She advised the public “not to panic” as she attributed the infections to “increasing cases of flulike illnesses” in the country.
She encouraged the public to practice the same preventive measures we learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as mask wearing when vulnerable, as we can get infected through close contact or droplet infections.
Amid reports of ILI in schools that has led to class suspensions, Dr. Fatima Gimenez, president of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society of the Philippines, also pressed the government for an “active” surveillance system that could monitor which viruses are circulating even before an outbreak occurs.
She pointed out that they’ve been wanting this kind of surveillance “since years back,” to curb the spread of infectious diseases, especially among children, as the country only implements a “passive” surveillance system.
The recent spate of flu-like illnesses that has been circulating in schools of late, even if it is neither a return of COVID or the coming of a new outbreak, should provide a sobering reminder of the lessons we learned the hard way during the pandemic, which include how we can protect ourselves and our loved ones from infections, even if it is just as annoying as the common cold or a regular flu.
As we take the necessary extra precautions from infections during this vulnerable season, we will also be counting on government to improve the public health policies and systems that can protect us further, from all sorts of infectious diseases, now and in the future.*
