Dengue Outbreak - Inevitable?



Malaysians need to brace themselves for the dengue outbreak as the spike in cases is expected to last until the end of the year, 2015.

Health Director General Datuk Seri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the number of cases was expected to be high due to change in dengue serotype shift from DEN-2 to DEN-1, which occurred in April.

It was also based on the cyclical pattern last year, he said.

“The ministry foresees the increase until end of the year. We are doing our best in activating our resources to eliminate breeding grounds,” he said.
The ministry reported that the number of deaths had doubled for the period of January to June 20 this year to 158 compared with 78 for the same period last year.

From June 14 to 20, 2,348 cases were reported with six deaths.

The number of dengue cases increased from an average of 1,400 cases a week in April to 2,200 cases a week this month.

Total accumulative cases reported from Jan 20 were 53,823 compared to 40,208 during the same period last year, an increase of 34% (13,615 cases).

There are 135 hotspot localities, with 116 in Selangor and 12 in Perak, 4 in Penang, 2 in Johor and 1 in Kedah.

He said the ministry and the state authorities would ensure activities on preventive and monitoring of cases and outbreaks be carried out fully.

The Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry, Public Cleansing and Management Corporation and the ministry would carry out cleaning campaigns and come up with a National Cleansing Plan as soon as possible to be implemented as a policy by seven ministries in the Dengue National Task Force, he said.

He also said the Construction Industry Development Board and the Department of Occupational Safety and Health needed to increase enforcement at construction sites.

/theSTAR 24-06-2015

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