Number of dengue cases in 13th week drops, no reports of Zika infection

The number of dengue cases in the country from March 27 to April 2 dropped by five cases as compared to the week before.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a statement said 2,130 dengue cases were reported throughout the country during that period, compared to 2,135 cases the previous week.

However, he said, seven states showed an increase in the number of dengue cases compared to the week before, namely Selangor with 35 cases, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya Federal Territories (15), Sarawak (12), Sabah (eight), Negeri Sembilan (two) while Perlis and Pahang two cases each.

The total number of dengue cases from January until April 2, 2016 also showed an 8.9 per cent increase to 37,190 cases compared to 34,144 cases during the same period last year, he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said monitoring by the Health Ministry showed that there were two fatalities reported in the 13th week, which were in Selangor.

"This year, 87 deaths were reported compared to 108 during the same period in 2015," he said.

The percentage of localities for the outbreak during the 13th week showed a drop of 6.6 per cent to 792 from 848 locations in the previous week, with the number of hotspot locations dropping to 177 compared to 192 the week before.

Selangor recorded the highest number (139) of hotspot locations, followed by Johor (28), Perak (four), Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya Federal Territories (three), Negeri Sembilan (two) and Terengganu (one).

Dr Noor Hisham said the ministry will organise enforcement activities for two months on Aedes mosquito breeding ground, beginning April 11.

"The focus of the activity is on the hotspot locations and residences.

"Enforcement activities on construction sites will be continued as from the ministry's monitoring from January until March 2016, of the 2,234 construction sites which were checked, 743 locations were found to have Aedes," he said.

As of April 2, of the 451 samples which were taken by the National Public Health Laboratory and the Institute of Medical Research to detect Zika infections in the country, none showed to be positive.

"The spread of Zika and dengue infections can be prevented if the public takes steps to destroy the breeding grounds. This is because both diseases are caused by the same vector," he said.