M'sia Needs Dengue Early Warning System, Says Expert

PENANG, Oct 5 (Bernama) -- The Health Ministry must come up with an early warning system for dengue and stop the current practice of declaring dengue an epidemic in certain areas only when deaths result from the disease, an entomologist suggested Wednesday.
Prof Dr Abu Hassan Ahmad of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) said hitherto Malaysia had no early warning system as efforts to monitor dengue were never continuous.
"Early warning system means the Ministry of Health must monitor continuously the breeding of Aedes mosquitoes and come up with a warning when the mosquito starts to breed in large numbers," he told reporters here.
Dr Abu Hassan, who is the Deputy Dean of the School of Biological Sciences and had researched insects for the last 25 years, said continuous monitoring was necessary as the Aedes mosquito was canny and able to hide in the least suspected places.
Also, through continuous monitoring, the local authorities would be able to gauge the situation before coming out with a warning or taking action immediately to destroy the breeding grounds when the Aedes mosquito is detected in housing areas, he said.
The ministry must also provide detailed explanation to the people about the characteristics of the mosquito as there were many fallacies in the public perception regarding Aedes.
These include believing that the appearance of Aedes is seasonal and that the mosquito only bites at dawn and dusk. Many were also unaware that the mosquitoes can find their way to their homes although they breed outside the house.
"Aedes likes to hide in the gaps of window curtains, under cushions, among decorative plants and in between water tanks where there is a little bit of clean water," he said.
Abu Hassan, who suffered from dengue haemorrhagic fever in 1997, said it was disappointing that the medical fraternity had yet to find a vaccine for dengue haemorrhagic fever despite many attempts to do so.
He said the government, too, must help the scientific community by providing a special grant for research work on a specific vaccine to help save dengue haemorrhagic fever victims.
The entomologist gave some pointers that could help prevent dengue. He said infants and children should be made to sleep under mosquito netting, mosquito repellents must be switched on from 6 pm onwards, mosquito sprays must be used often in dark areas of the house day and night and also under the bed and sofa, and in between curtains and decorative plants.