More than 62,000 dengue cases have been reported in the country in the first eight months of the year, nearly double from the same period last year. But the Department of Health said the number is expected to go down in the coming months. At a press briefing in Malacañang on Wednesday, Health Secretary Enrique Ona said his department believes the country has reached the "peak" of dengue cases based on figures from previous years showing the number going down after August. "We are at the peak, or maybe going down from the peak of incidence of dengue," Ona said. The 62,503 cases recorded from January to August 21 is 88 percent higher than last year's 33,102 for the same period, said Ona, although he noted that the higher figure may be due to the government's improved capability to monitor cases from increased sentinel sites nationwide. Ona said 465 deaths were recorded so far this year compared to the 350 deaths recorded in 2009 over the same period, or a 33 percent increase.