Dengue red alert in Hulu Selangor

NST: KUALA KUBU BARU: Hulu Selangor has been placed on the red alert after 385 people went down with dengue fever in the first six months of the year.
Two people, aged 18 and 37, died in Batang Kali.
Hulu Selangor MP Datuk G. Palanivel chaired a meeting of health officers and representatives of the Hulu Selangor Municipal Council and non-governmental organisations to discuss the situation.
"We are pressing the red button because the situation is dangerous."
He said hospitals and government clinics would be open round-the-clock to cope with the sick.
Last year, there were 461 dengue cases in the district.
Palanivel said the main reasons for the high number of dengue cases were illegal dumping, floods, potholes and ponds that became the breeding grounds for the Aedes mosquito which carries the dengue virus.
"Due to this, Hulu Selangor is a fertile ground for mos-quitos to breed," he said.
Palanivel has asked the Hulu Selangor Municipal Council to intensify fogging in the affected areas to break the breeding cycle of the Aedes mosquito.
He said he had also directed the council to clear illegal garbage from housing estates.
The worst-hit areas are Serendah, Bukit Beruntung and Bukit Sentosa with 218 cases reported since January.
He said Batang Kali reported 52 cases, Ampang Pecah and Hulu Bernam 24 each, Rasa 14, Kalumpang 5, Kerling 4 and Sungai Tengi one.
Palanivel said: "It is necessary to sound the alarm to raise the level of awareness among the people and agencies of the dengue outbreak here."
He advised the people to seek treatment if they had persistent fever.

In Kuala Lumpur, the increase in the number of suspected dengue cases has prompted the Health Ministry to approach maid agencies and building contractors to help combat the spread of the disease.
"Checks by the Health Ministry on the places which tested positive as Aedes mosquito breeding grounds have shown that 89 per cent of them are residential areas," said Health Ministry parliamentary secretary Datuk Lee Kah Choon.
"This is followed by construction sites which accounted for 2.2 per cent," Lee said.
He said the ministry, with the co-operation of maid agencies and contractors, would educate maids and construction workers on the dangers of dengue through lectures and workshops.
Statistics from the Health Ministry also revealed that from Jan 1 to June 23, 24,808 suspected dengue cases had been reported.
This is more than half the number of cases reported last year , which was 38,556.
It was also revealed that from January to June 9, the Federal Territory had 4,136 dengue cases, compared with 2,630 during the same period last year.
Lee said as of June 16, there had been 52 deaths nationwide due to dengue fever.
The number for the whole of last year was 83.
He assured the public that the ministry was doing its part to eradicate the spread of dengue.
Lee added: "To date, 526 compounds have been issued to the owners or tenants of premises that were identified as Aedes breeding grounds," he said.
As of June 16, RM58,720 had been collected in compound fines, he added.