Dengue cases in Quezon reach 2,276; 12 deaths recorded

By Nimfa L. Estrellado-Laurino Quezon Provincial Health Office personnel demonstrate dengue vector-control spraying during a July 10 or...

By Nimfa L. Estrellado-Laurino

Quezon Provincial Health Office personnel demonstrate dengue vector-control spraying during a July 10 orientation for spraymen in Agdangan, Quezon, covering safe insecticide use, equipment handling and proper mosquito-control procedures. (QPHO)

LUCENA CITY, Quezon — A 38-percent drop in dengue cases has not spared Quezon from death, with 12 fatalities recorded even as infections fell from last year. Behind the province-wide decline are serious illnesses, young patients and an uneven pattern of transmission that has left Mauban carrying the heaviest local burden.

In Mauban, the provincial improvement has been less pronounced, with the municipality accounting for nearly 18 percent of Quezon’s dengue cases through Aug. 22. Its share of the death toll is even larger, representing one-third of all dengue fatalities recorded across the province during the period.




Across Quezon, the Provincial Health Office counted 2,276 dengue cases from January through Aug. 22, covering confirmed, probable and suspected infections reported through provincial surveillance. The total was substantially lower than during the comparable period in 2025, although serious illness and deaths remained part of this year’s dengue picture.

Provincial health authorities described the year-on-year reduction as encouraging while separating the falling case count from the risks still present in affected communities. Their assessment recognized the improvement without treating fewer infections as evidence that dengue transmission had been contained across Quezon.

“The decline in dengue cases in the province this year is encouraging, with cases down by 38 percent compared with 2025,” the Quezon Provincial Health Office said. “The figures show a marked reduction from last year, even as dengue cases continue to be recorded across the province.”

The severity of some infections provides the other side of that decline, with deaths and warning signs remaining visible in the same surveillance period. Those findings are particularly significant in municipalities where cases have clustered and patients continue to require closer medical attention.

“However, dengue remains a serious health threat, with 2,276 reported cases and 12 deaths,” the QPHO said. “Mauban recorded 406 cases and four fatalities, the highest number of infections and deaths reported among the municipalities in the provincial data.”

Of the cases under surveillance, 1,018 were classified as suspected dengue, 467 as probable and 791 as confirmed infections. The breakdown allows health officials to distinguish patients at different stages of clinical and laboratory assessment while tracking how widely the disease continues to circulate.

Children aged 1 to 10 accounted for 38 percent of reported infections, making them the age group with the largest share of dengue cases in Quezon. Nearly half of all patients, or 46 percent, showed warning signs or symptoms associated with severe dengue, indicating that many cases required closer medical attention.

With children and patients showing warning signs figuring prominently in the data, health officials have urged families to remove places where dengue-carrying mosquitoes breed around homes and neighborhoods. Residents are advised to empty and scrub water-holding containers, cover stored water, clear gutters and yards, use mosquito screens or repellents, and seek medical care promptly when fever or warning signs persist.

Those preventive measures accompany the province’s effort to detect infections early while reducing mosquito populations in communities where transmission continues. Health personnel have also strengthened local control work by training municipal workers responsible for insecticide spraying and other measures directed at dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

On July 10, the Environmental and Occupational Health Unit of the Provincial Health Office conducted an orientation on dengue vector control for spraymen in Agdangan. The training covered proper control methods, safe use of insecticides and equipment, and standards for carrying out spraying operations in communities exposed to dengue transmission.

Conducted with the Agdangan municipal government, the activity was intended to improve how spraymen apply vector-control measures in their assigned areas. The training placed particular emphasis on correct chemical use and equipment handling, both of which determine whether mosquito-control operations are carried out safely and effectively.

Quezon now faces a smaller dengue caseload than it did a year ago, but the profile of those still falling ill remains serious, especially among young children and patients developing warning signs. For families confronting the disease, the distance between a falling provincial curve and a dangerous infection is still measured at the bedside.