MANILA, Philippines—This summer, the public should watch out for a number of “potential health risks” brought about by the onset of the dry spell caused by the El Niño phenomenon, the Department of Health (DoH) said on Tuesday.

In a joint advisory, the DoH National Center for Health Promotion and the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control warned against diseases like diarrhea, cholera, paralytic shellfish poisoning, heat stroke, heat cramps and heat exhaustion.

Other health risks include skin diseases caused by high temperatures, such as measles, chicken pox, flu, sore eyes, sunburn and hypertension.

Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral said: “The extremely hot weather carries with it its own effects on health.”

Some of the diseases could be caused by high temperatures (like heat stroke, cramps and hypertension) and red tide blooms (shellfish poisoning), Cabral noted.

"For many Filipinos, summer is a time for fun and festivities, but they must also remember to put their health on top of their priorities,” Cabral said.

She advised the public to “drink more fluids, conserve water and protect it from contamination, avoid strenuous physical activities, wear light clothing, and get updates on shellfish bans.”

The DOH was prompted to issue the health advisory “as the country begins to feel the effects of El Niño, which is characterized by extreme climatic conditions—either extreme temperature rise with a little rainfall or the opposite extreme which is heavy rainfall.”

Meanwhile, the DOH's National Epidemiology Center (NEC) reported that a total of 669 measles cases were admitted to an undisclosed number of hospitals nationwide between Jan. 1 and Feb. 13 this year.

“This was 70 percent higher compared to the same period in 2009 when there were 394 cases reported. One died compared to two deaths in 2009,” the NEC said.

According to NEC, most of the reported measles cases came from the following regions: Metro Manila, 306; Western Visayas, 68; Central Luzon, 60; Southern Tagalog, 57; and Bicol, 47.

In Manila, the measles-affected areas include several barangay (villages) in Quiapo, Tondo and San Miguel. Measles cases were also reported in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, and Parañaque City.

“Majority of the cases (nationwide) were children aged one to four years. They were mostly male. Most of the cases had no history of measles immunization,” the NEC added.