Private clinics told to refer dengue patients to govt clinics

Private clinics that are ill-equipped to detect dengue fever should refer patients to the nearest health clinic, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr. S.Subramaniam.

He said 50 per cent of dengue fever patients could not be detected at an early stage as they sought treatment for fever at ill-equipped private clinics before visiting government clinics or hospitals.

"We are not stopping fever patients from going to private clinics, but we hope private doctors will carry out the necessary tests so we don't missed dengue patients.

"We found that dengue fever patients were detected a little late by private clinics, prompting them to go from one clinic to another before ending up at government clinics," he told reporters after chairing his ministry's post-Cabinet meeting here, Wednesday.

Subramaniam said detecting dengue fever at an early stage could minimise the risks of complications in patients as proper treatment could be administered.

On congestion at the emergency department of government hospitals, he said the situation had improved significantly as fever patients were now visiting nearby clinics which stayed open at night.

Meanwhile, he said the ministry, with the cooperation state governments, local governments and agencies, would be fogging two types of insecticides and temephos to kill adult mosquitoes and larvae in 10 hotspots, mainly in the Klang Valley from this week.

"The fogging exercise will be carried out once a week for four weeks, after which we will study its effectiveness," he said, adding that the ministry would also carry out a large scale gotong-royong in 10 hotspots in addressing the dengue epidemic.

He said 25 people died of dengue fever until Feb 15 with 2,265 cases reported while dengue cases had risen in 10 states, namely Pahang, Kelantan, Johor, Penang, Perak, Terengganu, Melaka, Kedah, Sabah and Sarawak.