Dengue cases up to Dec 16 increased by 89.3 percent - KP Health
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December 23, 2023
Keeping the home and environment clean and ensuring it is free of Aedes mosquito breeding grounds is a shared responsibility. - Decorative pictures
Dengue cases up to Dec 16 increased by 89.3 percent - KP Health
Keeping the home and environment clean and ensuring it is free of Aedes mosquito breeding grounds is a shared responsibility. - Decorative pictures
KUALA LUMPUR: The cumulative number of dengue cases this year up to Dec 16 has increased by 89.3 percent, which is 117,505 cases compared to 62,060 cases in 2022, said Health Director-General Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan.
Dr Muhammad Radzi said in the same period, a total of 92 cases of death due to dengue fever complications were also recorded, which is an increase from only 49 deaths last year.
"In the 50th Epidemiological Week 2023 (ME50) which is for the period from 10 to 16 Dec, the number of dengue cases reported also increased by 6.5 percent or 192 cases with 3,140 cases recorded compared to 2,948 cases in the previous week.
"The number of ' hot spot ' localities reported in ME50 also increased to 124 localities compared to 101 hot spot localities in the previous week," he said in a statement here today.
He said of the total, 95 localities were in Selangor, the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya (13 localities), Perak (seven localities), Sabah (four localities), Negeri Sembilan (two localities) and one locality each in Kedah, Penang and Sarawak.
He said his party expects dengue cases to continue to increase until next year, therefore the community needs to continue to pay attention and take precautions against the infection when the country is currently also facing an increase in cases of COVID-19.
According to him, keeping the house and environment clean and ensuring it is free from Aedes mosquito breeding grounds is a shared responsibility.
"The public is advised to continue to do self-help activities. Spend time with the family checking the aedes breeding grounds in and around our homes for at least 10 minutes every week," he said.
People who continuously have dengue symptoms such as persistent fever, diarrhea and body aches despite testing negative for COVID-19, are also advised to undergo a fever test at a nearby health facility.
In the meantime for chikungunya case surveillance, Dr Muhammad Radzi said no chikungunya outbreak was detected in ME50 but one case was recorded, making the cumulative number of cases of the disease to date 193 cases.
As for Zika surveillance, he said a total of 3,733 blood samples and 411 urine samples had been tested for Zika and the results of all samples were negative.
