The Philippine Department of Health is expanding its patient tracking system in response to rising dengue and leptospirosis cases, according to SunStar Publishing Inc. The agency's move comes as health authorities in the Bicol region raised a Code Blue alert following a 19 percent increase in dengue cases there, the Philippine News Agency reports.
The expanded tracker is intended to help the department monitor patients as case numbers climb. SunStar Publishing Inc. did not provide further details on how the system works or which regions it covers.
The Bicol alert was also reported by Outbreak News Today, which noted the 19 percent rise in dengue cases alongside the Code Blue declaration.
The surge in Bicol runs against the national trend. The Department of Health said dengue cases recorded from January 4 to September 16 were 33 percent lower than during the same period in 2025, according to tribune.net.ph and the Manila Bulletin. That means the country's overall case count is down year on year even as the Bicol region reports a sharp local increase.
Leptospirosis, a bacterial infection typically spread through contact with water or soil contaminated by animal urine, is also cited in the reporting as a reason for the tracker's expansion. SunStar Publishing Inc. did not specify how many leptospirosis cases have been recorded or where they are concentrated.
What to watch next: whether the Department of Health releases regional breakdowns of the expanded tracking data, and whether other regions follow Bicol in declaring alerts.
