Manila, Philippines — The number of dengue cases nationwide rose 99 percent from January to August this year, compared to the cases recorded during the same period in 2009, but health authorities said cases have begun to “level-off ” since last month.

The monthly trend of dengue cases in some regions, except Metro Manila, has been going down since August, Department of Health (DoH) Enrique T. Ona said in a conference on Tuesday.

Regions 2 and National Capital Region have registered a 46.9 percent and 10.9 percent decrease in dengue cases, respectively, as of August 28, the Disease Surveillance report of the National Epidemiology Center (NEC) said.

Meanwhile, cases in Metro Manila have increased by 16 percent, Ona said.

The regions with the highest increase in dengue cases include the Cordillera Autonomous Region, and Western and Eastern Visayas.

“It appears to be receding but we are still on our toes with regards to monitoring of efforts of our health workers,” Ona said.

Seventy-eight percent of those who were afflicted with dengue were between one to 20 years old and there were 501 deaths recorded from January to August 28, the NEC report added.

Ona has ordered the suspension of all out-of-town training and seminars of some 150,000 government health workers to allow them to focus on the dengue issue. He said the deferment of seminars may last for a month or so depending on the trend of dengue in the coming weeks.

Noting the surge of patients who flock to hospitals seeking dengue consultations, the health chief encouraged the public to visit their health centers if they feel the symptoms of dengue as health center experts are also able to manage dengue cases, especially those that do not require hospitalization.

“Many dengue cases, if mild, can be managed at home or closely monitored by our local health staff in the communities. Not all dengue cases require hospitalization,” he said.

“Because of our advocacy, people are more informed… But not all who experience fever and body pains should run to hospitals. You should observe yourself for a day but you should also seek medical advice so you would have reasonable understanding of the disease,” he said.

Ona said the symptoms of dengue are similar to colds, bronchitis and the regular flu.

Dengue symptoms include mild to high grade fever with severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain and rashes.