1,200 suspected dengue cases reported last week in Malaysia

Star: More than 1,200 suspected cases of dengue fever were reported in Malaysia last week, the Health Ministry said Tuesday, with the death toll from the mosquito-borne disease reaching 76 so far this year.
Officials have escalated efforts to curb the disease by inspecting construction sites and residential areas where mosquitoes might thrive in stagnant water, said Ramlee Rahmat, the director of the health ministry's disease control division.
The number of suspected dengue cases nationwide climbed to 1,201 last week, compared to 1,023 in the previous week, Ramlee said.
However, he added that many suspected infections often turn out to be false alarms after tests are conducted.
Two more people died of dengue, bringing this year's number of deaths to 76, Ramlee said.
Between January and the first week of October, 29,820 suspected dengue cases were recorded, an increase of nearly 30 percent from the 23,163 cases in the same period last year, Ramlee said.
More than 8,200 of those cases have been confirmed to be dengue.
Ramlee urged construction companies to voluntarily check their premises for stagnant water.
"It has to be a community effort," Ramlee said.
Dengue, which is endemic to this region, causes joint pains, high fevers, nausea and a rash. In severe cases, it causes internal bleeding and leads to death.
Several Southeast Asian countries have reported higher-than-usual infections this year.