Dengue cases on the rise: Health DG

KUALA LUMPUR: The number of dengue cases reported throughout the country from Dec 10 to 16 was 985, some 35 cases higher compared to the previous week, said Director-General of Health Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
He said the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya and eight states showed an increase in the number of cases, the states being Penang, Johor, Perak, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Sarawak, Malacca and Perlis.
However, Noor Hisham said, the cumulative number of cases this year up to Dec 16 was 81,790 compared to 98,438 in the corresponding period last year, down by 16,648 cases.
"One death due to dengue was reported between Dec 10 and 16, bringing the cumulative number of deaths up to Dec 16 this year to 170 compared to 230 in 2016, down by 60 fatalities," he said in a statement today.
Meanwhile, Noor Hisham said no cases of chikungunya were reported for the week, keeping the cumulative number of these cases reported this year at 269 until Dec 16.
On the zika virus surveillance monitoring by the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) and the Institute for Medical Research (IMR), he said the test results of 2,199 blood samples and 33 urine samples of patients with symptoms were negative. — Bernama