143 deaths from dengue since January - Health Ministry

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 -- There were 143 deaths recorded from the 99,166 dengue cases since the beginning of this year until Tuesday (Sept 24).

Health Ministry Vector-Borne Disease Sector head, Dr Rose Nani Mudin, said the number had increased significantly compared to last year for the same period with 89 deaths from 54,379 dengue cases.

She said Selangor had the highest number with 54,997 cases and 48 deaths compared to 30,782 cases with 25 deaths for the same period last year.

“The second highest number of cases were in the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya where there were 12,366 cases compared to 5,292 cases last year. There were seven deaths last year which was the same number recorded over the same period this year

"Johor is the state with the third highest number of dengue cases at 8,480 this year compared to 4,152 cases last year  The number of deaths increased from 13 to 22  over the same period," she told Bernama.

Dr Rose Nani said the increasing number of dengue cases is a global phenomenon affecting some countries.

“The increase in dengue cases is not only happening here, but in countries like Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and China as reported by the WHO (World Health Organisation).

“Compared to other countries, the rise in the number of cases in our country is still low, while other countries have experienced an eight-fold increase. However, we are also worried about the trend because as the cases escalate, the death toll will certainly rise and we do not want this to happen,” she said.

To reduce the number of  dengue cases, Dr Rose Nani said precautions should be taken in every home to ensure there were no aedes mosquito breeding grounds .

"We do not have any vaccines or drugs that can prevent dengue but at least we can remove the breeding grounds of the mosquito. 

"If possible, remove containers that hold water. Flower pots should be washed weekly so that we can remove eggs should the mosquitoes be breeding in them,” she said urging people to use aerosol spray at home to kill  mosquitoes.

- BERNAMA