KUANTAN: Pahang reported five deaths from dengue fever complications between January and Sept 28 this year compared to only one fatality during the same duration last year.
Pahang Public Works, Transport and Health Committee chairman Razali Kassim said the deaths were recorded in five districts namely, Bera, Bentong, Rompin, Raub and Kuantan.
He said the cases involved victims aged between 40 and 65 years old who were living in housing settlements, villages and Felda schemes.
"The five deaths are the second highest recorded in the country this year. Investigations revealed the dengue deaths were due to the failure of the victims to seek immediate treatment at hospitals or clinics after developing fever complications.
"Those who develop dengue fever complications must quickly get themselves treated before their health condition worsens. Do not wait till the body temperature reaches 38 degrees Celsius or higher," he said after releasing the Wolbachia bacteria-infected mosquitoes at Taman Pasdec Makmur Indera Mahkota Dua here today.
Also present was Pahang health department director Datuk Dr Rusdi Abd Rahman.
On the Wolbachia bacteria-infected mosquitoes, Razali said 30,000 mosquitoes will be released every week for 14 consecutive weeks totalling 420,000 mosquitoes.
He said to date, 540,000 mosquitoes were released at the Pinggiran Putra People's Housing Project while 264,600 mosquitoes were released at Taman Impianku here.
"The pilot project to control the population of Aedes mosquitoes began in 2022 and since then, no dengue cases were reported at both the localities," he said.
Wolbachia is a bacteria that affects the breeding cycle of mosquitoes. It is hoped that mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia released in an area will mate with the wild population of disease-vector insects, infect the next generation and bring down the population.