Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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PUTRAJAYA (June 4): Amid the preoccupation with the Covid-19 outbreak, the health ministry today reminded Malaysians to also take precautionary measures to prevent dengue infections. 

Pointing out that dengue is still considered an endemic in the country, health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah Noor Hisham urged the public to use their time at home during the current lockdown period to clean their houses.

This will help prevent viable breeding grounds for the Aedes mosquitoes, he said at his daily Covid-19 media briefing.  

"Just because of Covid-19, don't forget about dengue. Dengue is always there," he added.  

Dr Noor Hisham updated that Malaysia recorded 46,938 cases of dengue in the first five months of this year, a drop of 11.7% compared to the 53,187 cases reported in the same period last year.  

However, there were 82 dengue-related deaths so far this year, compared with 81 deaths last year.  

"Nonetheless, we have not seen a surge of cases in dengue, otherwise an action plan would have been put in place," Dr Noor Hisham added.  

Concerns over dengue were raised as Singapore yesterday reported 9,261 dengue cases in the January-May period, the highest in the same period since 2013, when the republic experienced its largest outbreak in recent history. 

In Malaysia, dengue cases usually start increasing from May and spike after the monsoon during July and August, according to the health ministry’s Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre. 

Over the last two years, dengue has been on the rise in Malaysia, registering 80,615 cases with 147 deaths in 2018, and 130,101 cases with 182 deaths last year.

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