MANILA, Philippines -- Climate change will cause an increase in dengue fever and other infectious diseases in the Philippines, a World Health Organization (WHO) official warned Tuesday.

"What we can see is that the expected climate change is likely to increase the risks of dengue for many millions of people over the coming decades" in the Philippines, said Dr. John Juliard Go, WHO's national officer for non-communicable diseases.

Go told a medical forum that lethal diseases are usually sensitive to the weather, adding that "most of the expected burden in the next few decades is expected to be in diseases of children.

"In the Philippines, there already are trends of increasing number of hot days and warm nights, but decreasing number of cold days and cool nights. Other extreme weather climate events like intense rains have been seen to be more frequent."

The Department of Health meanwhile said dengue fever has killed 67 people in the Philippines so far this year as of March 8, or 18 more than in the same period in 2007.