Dengue Updates: Hospitals fined for breeding Aedes

NST: One would expect hospitals to be clean and not breed the dreaded Aedes mosquito.
Not so, it seems. The Health Ministry has slapped six hospitals in the country with compound notices for allowing the Aedes larvae to breed.
Also, over the last five days, there were 576 suspected dengue cases, 19 suffering dengue haemorrhagic fever. There were three deaths during this period.
The Health Ministry’s Communicable Disease Control division director Dr Ramlee Rahmat said today the hospitals and five schools were among the 13,332 issued with compound notices between Jan 1 and Oct 6.
The hospitals are Hospital Kangar, Hospital Bahagia, Hospital Seremban, Hospital Tanah Merah, Hospital Jerantut and Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan.
The schools are: Sekolah Menengah Seri Sepang in Selangor; SM Teknik, Jasin; SM Tun Perak and SM Sri Bemban in Malacca; and SK Mejar Jeneral in Kuching, Sarawak.
The compound notices carry a maximum fine of RM500 each under the Destruction of Disease Bearing Insects Act 1975 (DDBIA). Those who violate the directive to clean up the premises are liable to a fine of RM500 daily under Section 23(c) of the same Act.
"Construction sites still continue to be the highest breeders of the Aedes mosquito," said Dr Ramlee.

On dengue deaths, Dr Ramlee said three people died within the last 15 days, bringing the death toll to 75.
The victims were a 44-year-old poultry trader from Bayan Baru in Penang who died on Oct 3, a factory worker, 40, from Temerloh, Pahang who died on Sept 26 and a 36-year technician from Malacca who died on Sept 22.
Selangor topped the list of dengue cases with 144 cases and 10 people hospitalised with DHF, Penang (121 and one death), Kuala Lumpur (80 with one DHF), Kedah (43 with one DHF), Johor (37), Pahang (30 with four DHF and one death), Negri Sembilan (33), Perak (22), Kelantan (15 with two DHF), Malacca (13 with one DHF and one death), Sarawak (11), Sabah (10), Perlis (eight), Terengganu (five), Putrajaya (three) and Labuan (one).
This brings to 29,196 the number of suspected dengue cases between Jan 1 and Oct 6, with 1,500 of them being DHF.
Dr Ramlee said there were 15 hotspots, namely, Barat Daya district, Penang, (62 cases within the last five days) Kajang Municipality, (58), Timur Laut district, Penang, (36), Johor Baru (31), Subang Jaya Municipality (26), Setapak (21), Cheras (20), Penang Municipality (19), Kepong (16), Seremban ( 14), Ampang Jaya Municipality (13), Shah Alam City area (12), and Bandar Baru, Gombak and Kuantan (11 each).