Selangor Journal
A female Aedes aegypti mosquito, a carrier of dengue, chikungunya, Zika, and yellow fever, seen after completing its blood meal. Image taken in 2006. — Picture by WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/US CENTRES FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION

Dengue cases increase in ME20, two deaths reported

PUTRAJAYA, May 28 — Reported dengue fever cases increased to 2,461 in the 20th Epidemiological Week (ME20) from May 12 to May 18, compared with 2,338 cases reported in the previous week.

Health Director-General Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan said two deaths due to complications from dengue fever were also recorded during the period.

The cumulative number of dengue fever cases reported up to ME20 was 59,681, compared with 43,619 for the same period in 2023. There were 42 deaths due to dengue fever complications reported, compared with 28 deaths for the same period last year.

“The number of hotspot localities reported in ME20 was 59 compared with 60 recorded in the previous week, with 44 localities in Selangor; four localities each in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, and Sarawak; Kedah (three); Perak (two), and one locality each in Penang and Negeri Sembilan,” he said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, one chikungunya case was recorded in ME20, and the cumulative number of chikungunya cases to date is 25 cases with no outbreak reported.

As for zika surveillance, Dr Radzi said 1,021 blood samples and six urine samples were screened, and all results were negative.

As it is currently the school holidays, he advised schools and their appointed cleaning contractors to take steps to prevent dengue, including destroying Aedes mosquito breeding grounds inside and outside the school buildings and discarding containers or rubbish that can hold water.

— Bernama

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