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The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday said it is expecting the incidence of influenza-like illnesses (ILI) in the country to continue to rise due to the 鈥減roliferation of viruses鈥� during the rainy season and cooler months.

As of Sept. 16, DOH figures showed that a total of 134,637 ILI cases have been reported since the start of the year. This is an 8-percent increase from the confirmed ILI infections two weeks ago.

The health department noted that ILI infections in the past month have been climbing, attributing the case trend to the transitioning weather conditions鈥斺�渇rom increased heat and high humidity in the summer to wet and damp weather conditions.鈥�

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.

COVID-19 cases in the country, meanwhile, climbed to an average of 176 per day, or a total of 1,231 infections last week, based on the latest weekly case bulletin.

The figure was a slight increase from the previous daily average of 166 cases, or a total of 1,164 infections from the prior week of Sept. 18 to Sept. 24.

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.

The former DOH officer in charge advised the public 鈥渢o not panic鈥� as she attributed the infections to 鈥渋ncreasing cases of flu-like illnesses鈥� in the country.

鈥淲e just have to do [the preventive measures] we did during COVID-19 [pandemic]鈥攚ashing of hands, and [wearing of] masks when vulnerable because we can get it through close contact or droplet infections also and from fluids of bats,鈥� she told lawmakers.

鈥楢ctive surveillance system鈥�

In a media forum on Tuesday, Dr. Fatima Gimenez, president of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society of the Philippines, pressed the government for an 鈥渁ctive鈥� surveillance system鈥攐ne that could monitor which viruses are circulating even before an outbreak occurs鈥攁mid reports of ILI in schools that led to class suspensions.

She pointed out that they鈥檝e been wanting 鈥渟ince years back鈥� this kind of infectious disease surveillance in the Philippines to curb the spread of contagious diseases, especially among children.

What the country implements through the DOH, Gimenez noted, is a 鈥減assive鈥� surveillance system, where data on illnesses spreading among the population are routinely collected from health-care facilities.

Among the contagious illnesses affecting children in recent weeks, she said, are influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, the vaccines for which were only made available for the first time in May in the United States.

For Dr. Vicente Belizario, professor at the College of Public Health at University of the Philippines Manila, the DOH 鈥渘eeds adequate support from the [Research Institute for Tropical Medicine] and other reference laboratories because 鈥渢hey should tell us what virus [is circulating], what it is about, and what strain it is for instance.鈥�

Such a system is crucial so the DOH could 鈥渃onvey the right message鈥� to the public, he said.