MANILA, Philippines?Dr. Eric Tayag, head of the National Epidemiology Center, Thursday disclosed that the 62,503 dengue cases reported from January to Aug. 21 was the highest ever number recorded in the country, and warned that deaths from dengue could also reach a new high this year.

?This is the highest number of cases (recorded) because the previous record was last year,? Tayag told reporters.

?We?ve already passed the 57,636 cases registered last year. We have 465 deaths due to dengue as of August, which is lower than the 548 deaths last year,? he said.

He added, ?We hope we don?t reach that number but the trend tells us that it will. If the reported cases reach 80,000 and one percent of the patients die, then that means we could have 800 deaths.?

Tayag said that the 62,503 cases reported from January to Aug. 21 were 88.8 percent higher than the 33,102 recorded during the same eight-month period last year.

El Niño blamed

?We had an 89 percent increase from last year and this is because of El Niño (a weather phenomenon that brings a prolonged dry spell), the circulation of four dengue strains, and improved reporting,? Tayag said.

He said the number of dengue cases was still going up in the National Capital Region, the Cordillera Administrative Region and Western Visayas.

Tayag said that as early as January this year, the number of dengue cases had already shot up, especially from the eastern part of the country.

?At the start of January, the number of cases was already above average. This is because the eastern part of the country already had rainy weather,? Tayag said.

But an official of the Department of Health?s regional arm said Thursday that the number of dengue cases in Metro Manila this year was notably lower compared to that of last year, with only three areas considered as dengue hot spots.

Dr. Adrian Subaan, assistant director of the Center for Health Development in Metro Manila, said the number of dengue cases in the National Capital Region dropped by 15 percent from last year?s figures, from the 6,559 cases posted in 2009 to the 5,558 cases in 2010.

The DoH reported that 62 barangay (villages) in Metro Manila were found to have a clustering of cases, 43 of them in Quezon City.

Subaan said that by clustering of cases, the health department meant that three or more dengue cases were reported in a barangay in four consecutive weeks.

Bracing for more

The Quezon City health department said it was bracing itself for more dengue cases this September even as it assured the public that the number of cases this year was lower than those posted in past years.

City health officer Dr. Antonieta Inumerable said there was no reason for panic as health officials had been able to keep things under control with regular clean up drives especially in barangay with reported cases.

?Usually dengue cases go up in August, September because of the rainy season, based on the trend we have observed for the past five years. By October the cases will go down, so we are preparing for any surges,? she said.

The DoH also declared three barangay, Camarin and 176 in Caloocan and Balangkas in Valenzuela as dengue hotpots for having more than three cases in two weeks.

Barangay 176 had nine cases, Camarin 11, and Balangkas had seven in two consecutive weeks.