KUALA LUMPUR: Despite the intensifying heat, the prolonged dry spell has brought about a positive effect — a dip in number of dengue cases.
Deputy director-general of Health Datuk Dr Lokman Hakim Sulaiman, who confirmed the decline in cases to the New Straits Times, said “outdoor breeding places were drying up”.
Dr Lokman said dengue cases had dropped for the three weeks running up to March 19.
He said 2,247 cases were recorded in the 11th week of the year, while 2,556 and 2,719 cases were recorded in the 10th and ninth week of the year, respectively.
The eighth week recorded 2,885 cases from 2,785 the week before, based on data on the Health Ministry’s National Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre’s Facebook page.
“This (trend) is expected to continue until the end of next month or early May, coinciding with the pattern of rainfall. But we are preparing a strategy to prevent a rise in cases expected in June,” he said.
In its latest statement, the ministry said 32,925 dengue cases had been recorded up to the 11th week of this year, an increase of 2,035 cases (6.6 per cent) compared with the same period last year.
“There have been 82 deaths this year compared with 98 for the same period last year,” the statement read.
Seven deaths were recorded nationwide last week, with two in Selangor, Federal Territories and Putrajaya (2), Johor (2) and Perak (1), compared with 16 deaths the week before.
The outbreak peaked in the fourth week of the year, with 3,750 cases.
The ministry also noted 202 hotspots, with Selangor topping the list with 151 hotspots, followed by Johor (37), Perak (6), Federal Territories and Putrajaya (4), Terengganu (2) and Penang (1).
The ministry said it was monitoring and conducting prevention and control activities to reduce the number of cases.
“We hope communities keep their surroundings free of Aedes breeding sites. Fogging will be done in areas where dengue patients reside. This is important so that adult mosquitoes that carry the virus can be killed and prevented from spreading the disease.”