Selangor tops list of dengue cases

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: The total number of dengue cases in all states increased last week, with Selangor continuing to top the list of suspected new infections.
In the second week of the year, 656 cases were detected in Selangor followed by Kuala Lumpur, which had 323 cases.
Selangor and Kuala Lumpur had the highest number of cases in the first week of January, with 562 and 239 respectively.
The total number of cases in all states last week rose from 1,155 in the first week of the year to 1,506.
All the states in the country recorded a higher number of cases last week compared with the previous week except for Johor, Terengganu and Labuan.
Deputy director-general of health Datuk Dr Ramlee Rahmat said as of Jan 13, two deaths were reported, one each in Negri Sembilan and Kuala Lumpur.
He added that from the 1,506 suspected cases reported last week, 381 were confirmed to have the disease.
"A total of 168 notices and 251 compound fine notices adding up to RM34,200 were issued last week," he said in a statement yesterday.
The ministry is also providing free supplies of abate to the public.
There were 12,000 cases reported last year and 12,700 in 2005.
Symptoms of dengue fever include a sudden onset of high fever, severe headache, joint and muscle pain, nausea, vomiting and a rash that appears several days after the fever.
Most dengue infections result in relatively mild illness, but some can progress to dengue haemorrhagic fever, which can be fatal.