Dengue on the rise

PETALING JAYA: Dengue cases have been increasing, with 3,337 cases reported on the first week of 2016 alone.
This is a sharp increase compared to the same period last year, in which there were only 2,633 dengue cases reported.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the number of cases in the first week of 2016 increased by 33% from the 2,511 cases reported in the previous week.
He added all states, except for Kedah, recorded an increase of dengue cases in the period of time, with four deaths reported.
"The number of epidemic locality is also seeing an increase in the first week of 2016, which was at 1,044 localities as compared to 907 localities in the previous week," he said.
"Furthermore, hotspot locality has increased from 145 to 161 localities, involving seven states which are Sealngor (122), Johor (22), Perak (8), Penang (4), Sabah (2), Negri Sembilan (2) and Federal Territories (1)," he said in a statement.
Noor Hisham said a total 120,836 dengue cases were reported in 2015, an increase by 11.2% from 108,698 cases reported in 2014.
He said some of the factors contributing to the increase of dengue cases were unhygienic surrounding, littering and inefficient garbage management.
To add to the problem, the El Nino phenomenon, which brought the hot spell nationwide until March, could further increase dengue cases as it would shorten the length for an Aedes mosquito to reach a mature age and increase its population.
"The hot temperature will cause the mosquito to become more active and increase the frequency of mosquito bites," he said.
He said the El Nino phenomenon could increase dengue cases by up to 50%.