Community Lives In Fear After 15 Residents Down With Dengue

PENANG, Oct 3 (Bernama) -- A small community in Bukit Gedung in Barat Daya district here is living in fear after 15 residents came down with dengue fever and were admitted to hospital, with one death, in recent weeks.
The residents were from five terrace houses.
The fatality is poultry seller Mohamad Sarif Seramal Baris, 44, who died at 12.10am, Monday -- the sixth victim of the dengue outbreak in the state this year.
He was buried in the Permatang Pasir Muslim cemetery at about 3pm.
Mohamad Sarif's neighbour, Rosman Daud, said three of the dengue patients were still being treated in hospital.
He said children in the community were no longer allowed to play outdoors, and the windows and doors of the houses were shut tight as early as 5pm.
All the families also kept mosquito coils lighted all the time, he added.
The plight of the community was dramatically illustrated by the death of Mohamad Sarif and the admission into hospital of all his five children for dengue fever.
His nephew, Muhammad Aswadde Abdul Stek, said the children, aged from 3 to 13, were warded in a private hospital in Bayan Baru starting on Sept 10 but all have since returned to their home, with the last discharged on Sept 26.
He said Mohamad Sarif was also admitted to the same private hospital on Sept 21 and was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit of Penang Hospital on Oct 1 after his condition became critical.
Mohamad Sarif leaves a wife Hafizah Amir, 35, who is a housewife, three sons Mohd Zulhusni, 13, Mohd Asyrani, 7, and Ahmad Myzami, 3, and two daughters Nor Amirah, 11, and Nor Safra Balqis, 9.
Amirah said one of the last things her father told her was his promise to take the whole family to the Sedim recreational centre in Kulim for a swim after everyone had recovered.
"Father also reminded me to take my medicine so I could get well fast and sit for the Headmasters Council exam last Monday," she said. The Barat Daya district is the worst hit in Penang with four deaths, including that of Mohamad Sarif.