Weekly dengue cases up 16%

The number of dengue fever cases in the 44th epidemiology week (ME 44) this year increased by 233 cases or 16% to 1,693 compared to 1,460 in the previous week.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a statement today said two deaths due to dengue fever complications were reported this week.

"The cumulative number of dengue fever cases reported so far is 51,262 compared to 22,101 for the corresponding period in 2021, an increase of 29,161 cases (131.9%)," he said.

A total of 35 deaths due to dengue complications were also reported, compared to 17 in 2021 – an increase of 18 deaths.

However, Noor Hisham said the number of hotspot localities reported in ME 44 decreased to 50 compared to 56 the previous week.
 
Of the total, 31 localities were in Selangor, 14 in Sabah, four in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and one in Melaka.

On chikungunya, he said 12 cases were recorded in ME 44 with six cases in Penang, five in Selangor, and one in Negeri Sembilan. This takes the cumulative number of cases so far to 682.

As for Zika surveillance, Noor Hisham said 1,739 blood samples and 16 urine samples had been screened with the results all negative.