Homes, shophouses breeding grounds for Aedes

Star: PETALING JAYA: Houses and shophouses registered the highest percentage among premises found to be active breeding grounds for the Aedes mosquito.
Deputy director of disease control (vector) Datuk Dr Azmi Hashim said of the premises that checked positive for Aedes breeding, 75% to 80% were houses and shophouses.
“This is a high number and means that many dengue patients were infected in their own homes,” he said in an interview here yesterday.
Dr Azmi was commenting on reports that the Health Ministry had declared war on dengue following an alarming rise in cases and related deaths in the first two weeks of the year.
There have been 3,211 cases with eight deaths, compared to 1,514 cases and four deaths during the same period last year.
Dr Azmi said although state health department officers periodically carried out fogging at neighbourhoods known to be hot-spots for dengue infection, this acted only as a temporary measure.
“Fogging only kills adult mosquitoes. It is more effective for home-owners to destroy all breeding sites around their houses.
“Home owners should clean up their compounds and add larvicide to any water container or pot,” he said, adding that the Health Ministry had published pamphlets advising the public to spend 10 minutes each week checking their homes for Aedes breeding sites.
To report cases of dengue, the public can approach the nearest district health office or call the dengue operations room hotline at 03-8881-0600 or 03-8881-0700.
Meanwhile, Deputy Health Minis-ter Datuk Dr Abd Latiff Ahmad said the lack of co-operation from the public was the main reason for the increase in dengue cases.
“If people are not concerned, what else can the Government do?” he said during the launch of the second phase of “I Care Vision 20/20” at the Tun Hussein Onn Hospital yesterday.
Dr Latiff said the Government was giving away the Abate larvicide for people to use on mosquito breeding areas and that volunteer groups had been set up through the Combi (Communication for Behavioural Impact) concept to create awareness on dengue.