Dengue war showing results

Star: Positive signs can be seen on the dengue battlefront. There has been a drop in the percentage of confirmed patients among suspected cases.
Health Ministry disease control division director Dr Ramlee Rahmat said of the 1,172 suspected cases reported last week (29 cases fewer than the previous week), 23% or 270 cases were confirmed to be dengue.
Compare that percentage with the total 31,037 suspected cases reported this year, of which 28.6% or 8,889 cases were confirmed to be dengue, and there was reason to be optimistic, he said.
“We hope this positive trend will continue. We believe that beefing up monitoring and collaborating with the public in cleaning up areas has helped to keep the number of cases down,” he said at the weekly dengue update yesterday.
He attributed the drop to eradication of mosquito breeding grounds and fogging.
However, the dengue death toll has increased by two to 78 casualties.
A 21-year-old male contract worker from Kuala Kubu Baru in Selangor had fever on Oct 9 and was admitted to hospital on Oct 12. He died the next day.
An eight-year-old girl from Pengkalan Chepa, Kelantan, died on Aug 18 at the Kota Baru Hospital but her death was only reported to the ministry last week.
Selangor saw a 50% reduction in the number of suspected cases reported in Kajang – one of the three dengue hotspots in the state –over the past few weeks.
The state government however cautions against complacency in view of the current rainy season.
State Executive Councillor Datuk Dr Lim Thuang Seng reminded local councils and other authorities, and the people to maintain diligence in the war against aedes by ensuring there was no stagnant water for mosquitoes to breed.
Dr Lim, who is chairman of the State Health Committee, said the state was keeping vigil on the three hotspots: Kajang (which averaged 50 suspected cases a week), Subang (also 50) and Shah Alam (30).
More than 30 suspected cases a week reported in a municipality warranted intense aedes search and destroy missions, he said.
“We want to keep reported cases below 10 per week in a municipality. There can never be a zero-case scenario for the time being.
“We need to be vigilant during the rainy season. Dengue will usually taper off a few weeks into the dry season,” he said.