KOTA KINABALU: Three children died from complications brought on by dengue fever in a six-week period from January to Feb 11 compared to zero deaths in the same period last year in Sabah.
Sabah State Health Department (JKNS) director, Datuk Dr Rose Nani Mudin, said the deaths were recorded in Sandakan, Kudat and Kunak.
She said the three deaths involved girls between the ages of nine and 12 years old who lived in squatter areas near water locations.
"The death due to dengue fever in Sandakan involved a nine-year-old Malaysian girl from Kampung Tinusa Laut Dua. In Kudat, it involved a nine-year-old non-citizen girl from Kampung Sibogoh Balak, Pulau Banggi.
"Meanwhile, in Kunak there is a death involving a 12-year-old foreign teen girl from Kampung Jaya Baru Bakau," she said in a media statement.
She said to date the status of Kampung Tinusa Laut Dua, Sandakan remains under the uncontrolled epidemic status category with nine dengue cases detected so far.
However, she said no new cases were reported from Kampung Sibogoh Balak, Pulau Banggi and Kampung Jaya Baru Bakau, Kunak.
Dr Rose Nani added that dengue control and prevention activities are still being implemented in the three localities involved to avoid the further spread of the mosquito-borne disease.
Meanwhile, Dr Rose Nani said that starting in the first and second week of January this year, JKNS recorded more than 250 cases of dengue fever a week in Sabah.
However, she said the figure had decreased slightly over the past three weeks with 230 cases being recorded in the sixth week ending Feb 11 compared to 253 cases in the previous week.
"Within six weeks, a total of 1,482 dengue cases were reported throughout Sabah with 15 hotspots detected, nine each in Sandakan, Tawau (three), Lahad Datu (two) and one in Kota Kinabalu," she said.
Dr Rose Nani said that in addition to hygiene factors, the increase in human activity and movement when all sectors were fully opened after the Covid-19 pandemic is also one of the factors causing the dengue virus to spread easily, thus increasing infections.
In addition, she said, the continuous rain and flood disaster experienced in several districts in Sabah recently also contributed towards mosquitoes and larvae development which caused the population of Aedes mosquitoes to increase.