MANILA, Philippines ? The Department of Education yesterday reported that some 58 students have died of the deadly disease since the surge of cases in July, just a month since the new school year opened.

DepEd's Health and Nutrition Center also reported that 4,738 elementary and high school students were confirmed to have contracted the mosquito-borne disease. DepEd collated the reports from school health officials across the country but specific locations were not disclosed to the media.

Concerned about the spread of dengue, Education Secretary Armin Luistro ordered regional directors and school division superintendents to strengthen their dengue prevention campaign on campus.

?We call on the parents, students, teachers, and school officials to be mindful of their health, take extra precaution, and to be watchful for any symptoms pointing to dengue to prevent outbreak,? said Luistro in a statement on Tuesday.

?We should work together to contain the outbreak of dengue. Students? welfare should be our primary concern,? he said.

DepEd earlier devised the Preventive Alert System in Schools (PASS), an information relay system that encourages school communities to relay information about a student's or teacher's health to medical workers.

The department also issued a memo reiterating its support for the health department's anti-dengue campaign and advised students to undertake self-protection measures by wearing clothes that protect the skin against mosquito bites, early consultation and avoiding indiscriminate fogging.

Regional and division offices have been holding information drives and meetings with parents to boost prevention efforts.

?The most potent key to control diseases is to empower our people with correct information so they can take necessary action to stop the transmission through timely and vigilant health-seeking behaviors,? said Gloria D. Benigno, DepEd?s director for the Caraga region consisting of the Agusan and Surigao provinces.

The Caraga office recently gathered parents, school officials and teachers in a seminar on sanitation and other mosquito-borne diseases.

In Southern Tagalog, education and health officials worked together in clean-up operations to clear mosquito breeding places.

In Quezon City, now a hotspot of dengue cases, school officials recently held a ?dengue buster? seminar that centered on prevention efforts both at home and on campus.