Is a dengue epidemic set to hit Malaysia in 2023?

KUALA LUMPUR: The number of dengue fever cases in Malaysia for the second week of 2023 rose by 13.6 per cent to 2,520 cases, compared to 2,219 cases the previous week.

This upward trend was consistent with data from 2022, in which the country experienced a 150 per cent increase to a total of 66,102 cases, as compared to 26,365 cases in the year before.

However, a virology expert is of the opinion that there is no cause for concern yet.

Professor Dr Sazaly Abu Bakar, Director of the Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre at Universiti Malaya acknowledged that there had been a steady increase in cases, but pointed out that it was against a backdrop of a low number of cases and deaths in the last two years.

“The trend over the last two years has been very low. It’s almost similar to the number of dengue cases that we had two decades ago,” he told Astro Awani.

“When you have a low baseline to start with, naturally it looks alarming.”

He added that other contributing factors to the purported surge were awareness surrounding COVID-19 symptoms and accessibility to testing.

“If someone is running a fever but turns out to be COVID-19 negative, then they would ask themselves what else they could be having.

“That is what drives them to the hospital or to get themselves checked, which is where we pick up more dengue cases."

A more worrying figure, said Dr Sazaly, would be if cases hit over 150,000 out of the country’s population of 33 million.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Malaysia recorded 130,101 cases in 2019–the highest number of cases since the 120,836 reported in 2015.

Nevertheless, Dr Sazaly said the country should remain vigilant for a possible surge in cases in the future.

Citing current data, he noted that there has been a steady increase in the number of dengue cases in neighbouring countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.

He said Malaysia must look at tackling dengue as an infectious disease more effectively post-COVID.

According to him, the nation has been focused on eradicating mosquitoes over the past few decades, which was an impossible task.

“You have to look at another avenue to contain dengue itself, because dengue disease involves three elements–the virus, host (humans) and vector (mosquitoes).

“We have been focusing too much on the vector. It’s about time we look at how we can work through the host.”

A mosquito becomes infected with the dengue virus when it draws blood from a dengue-infected person.

The dengue virus is then spread to other humans through the infected mosquito's bites.

“(It should be) the other way round of thinking. Not focusing on mosquitoes delivering the virus to humans, but focusing on humans delivering the virus to mosquitoes, in which the mosquitoes then spread it.

“I think we need a paradigm shift on how we approach dengue post-COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr Sazaly.