Materia Medica Malaysiana

Dengue Cases Rising Rapidly

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 20 (Bernama) -- The number of dengue cases is rising fast, hitting 1,415 cases in the second week of this year from 1,054 the previous week or up 34.9 per cent.
Health Ministry disease control division director Dr Ramlee Rahmat said Selangor recorded the most number of cases, increasing by 153 cases to 654 in the Jan 9 to 15 period.
It was followed by Kuala Lumpur which saw 39 new cases to 246 and Pahang from 40 to 69 cases, he told reporters, here Thursday.
He said the total number of cases in other states also rose except in Terengganu which declined from 21 cases in the first week to 17 in the second.
Dr Ramlee said the ministry's enforcement officers have stepped up checks for potential breeding places of aedes mosquitoes, the carrier of the dengue virus, by inspecting 65,073 premises in the second week compared to 54,508 before.
The premises included shophouses, construction sites, schools, factories, government offices, abandoned houses, places of worship, cemeteries, garbage dumps, vacant land, road dividers and recreational parks.
"We found 685 premises breeding aedes mosquitoes and construction sites remained the worst culprit at 13.1 per cent followed by factories (8.1 per cent) and vacant land (7.1 per cent)," he said.
He said the owners of 267 premises were fined while three premises were ordered closed.
Fogging was carried out in areas with dengue cases while anti-larvae chemical was dropped into water containers in 6,269 premises.