Crisis meeting following spike in dengue cases

KUALA LUMPUR: It's a whopping 84,684 dengue cases with 160 deaths in just 10 months of this year.
With the alarming figures, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday chaired the national-level committee on dengue meeting in efforts to implement more effective measures to tackle the problem.
Accompanied by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, the meeting was held in Parliament House, together with various parties including state governments and local authorities.
This is the third meeting being held at national level to combat the menace.
The number of cases reported between Jan 1 and Oct 25 this year is seen alarming as compared with only 28,207 cases and 60 deaths during the same period last year.
According to Subramaniam, there is a serotype shift of the dengue virus from DEN 2 to DEN 1 since July this year.
Dengue infections are caused by four closely related viruses named DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4. While they are all closely related to each other, infection with one serotype only offers limited and temporary immunity against other serotypes.
In fact, multiple infections with different types of dengue increase the risk of severe dengue infections such as dengue haemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome.
Subramaniam said more than 50% of dengue cases are reported in Selangor.
"The committee has decided that a special meeting at the Selangor state level will be held soon," he said, adding that a concerted effort from the relevant authorities and the rakyat was needed to reduce the spread of the disease.
He said a state dengue committee will be formed in all states chaired by the state mentri besar or the state exco in charge together with all relevant departments and agencies.
"There is a need to go down to the grassroots to combat the situation," he said, adding that the spike in cases is also due to the monsoon season.
He said each and everyone has to play a role in keeping their surroundings clean and destroying potential Aedes mosquito breeding grounds.