CEBU Province’s weekly dengue case counts remained below alert and epidemic thresholds despite an August surge, provincial health consultant Elisse Nicole Catalan said.
The Provincial Health Office (PHO) data, Catalan said the province recorded 3,759 dengue cases and 21 deaths from Jan. 1 to Sept. 11, 2026, for a case fatality rate of 0.56 percent.
She said the deaths were recorded across that reporting period, rather than during a single week or month.
“While this remains below the dengue program goal of keeping the CFR under one percent, every death is one too many,” Catalan said in a statement.
“Each death must guide us in improving early consultation, clinical management, referral and community prevention,” she added.
Weekly case trends
According to the surveillance figures cited by Catalan, cases began rising around morbidity week 25 and reached their highest reported weekly count of 478 in week 33 in August.
Reported cases fell to 416 in week 34 and 292 in week 35, while the preliminary tally for week 36 stood at 46 as of Sept. 10.
The week 36 figure remains subject to updating and should not be treated as a final measure of the decline.
Catalan identified Medellin, Talisay City and Toledo City as the localities with the highest reported case counts during the August–September period covered by the surveillance reports.
She said cumulative cases, total deaths and year-over-year increases alone do not establish an outbreak, citing weekly case counts compared with historical thresholds as the basis for the province’s assessment.
“The current situation is therefore more accurately described as elevated dengue transmission with localized hotspots, but not a province-wide dengue outbreak,” she said.
“This does not mean that we can be complacent. It means that our interventions must remain targeted, aggressive and guided by surveillance data.”
Hospital readiness, community action
Catalan said all 16 Capitol-run provincial and district hospitals maintain round-the-clock laboratory services, supplies of intravenous fluids and test kits, and dedicated dengue fast lanes for patient assessment and treatment.
She said the PHO has also provided technical assistance, NS1 diagnostic kits, larvicides and spraying equipment to affected local government units, while municipal doctors have undergone refresher training on managing dengue in children.
Catalan and Provincial Health Officer Sheila Faciol urged residents to eliminate mosquito-breeding sites and seek medical care early.
“Misting does not replace the removal of stagnant water and mosquito-breeding sites,” Catalan said. “Searching for and destroying breeding sites remains the most important community-level preventive measure.”
“Our primary concern is early consultation. If a family member has a fever, let us have them checked immediately at the nearest health center or hospital so they can be given proper attention right away and prevent complications from worsening,” Faciol said.
Catalan urged residents not to wait for bleeding, persistent vomiting, severe abdominal pain, difficulty breathing, extreme weakness or loss of consciousness before seeking care.
She advised families to bring anyone with persistent fever or other symptoms suggestive of dengue to the nearest health center or hospital.
The World Health Organization warns that severe dengue symptoms can appear after fever subsides and require immediate medical attention. / CDF