The Division of Well being (DOH) says on Friday, February 16, 2024, that 9 individuals have died as a consequence of flu-like sicknesses or influenza-like sicknesses because the starting of 2024. INQUIRER.internet FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Division of Well being (DOH) stated Friday that 9 individuals have died as a consequence of influenza-like sicknesses (ILI) because the starting of 2024.

It additionally stated {that a} whole of 16,155 ILI circumstances have been recorded from January 1 to February 3.

The DOH, nonetheless, marked a downtrend in an infection and predicted that ILI circumstances could plateau by March.

READ: DOH: Think about steps taken throughout pandemic vs seasonal flu

In keeping with the company, the 16,155 circumstances of ILI within the first month of this 12 months is nineteen p.c decrease than the 19,935 circumstances reported in the identical interval in 2023.

Well being Undersecretary Eric Tayag earlier famous that the reported ILIs are both influenza sort A or sort B, or COVID-19.

Influenza sort A and B viruses flow into and trigger seasonal epidemics of illness, in response to the World Well being Group (WHO).

READ: CoV2 most typical reason for flu-like sicknesses

The WHO stated that type-A flu is additional labeled into subtypes which have beforehand precipitated pandemics just like the swine flu or H1N1, whereas sort B is a sort of influenza brought on by viruses from the Victoria or Yamagata lineages.

Knowledge from the DOH, nonetheless, revealed that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has been the most typical reason for ILIs within the nation since 2020.