THE Department of Health (DOH) has expanded its patient navigation and referral system to include dengue cases amid rising cases of both dengue and leptospirosis in recent weeks.
In its latest report, the DOH said its existing Leptospirosis Tracker has been expanded into a Unified Leptospirosis and Dengue Case Tracker covering DOH hospitals and partner government health facilities.
“The existing DOH Leptospirosis Tracker has been expanded into a Unified Leptospirosis and Dengue Case Tracker,” the DOH said.
The system will be used to monitor hospital capacity and caseloads, identify referral and resource requirements, and support timely operational decisions as cases increase.
“Hospital bed occupancy and clinical status are continuously monitored to identify facilities at or approaching capacity and guide patient referrals, surge measures, and resource augmentation,” the DOH said.
The expansion comes as the department recorded increases in both diseases from August 20 to September 2 compared with the preceding two-week period.
Leptospirosis cases more than doubled from 1,762 cases recorded from Aug. 6 to 19 to 3,805 cases from August 20 to September 2.
Dengue cases also increased from 17,342 to 19,792 over the same periods.
Based on the figures, leptospirosis cases increased by about 116 percent, while dengue cases rose by about 14 percent. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)
