8.9% increase in weekly dengue cases

The total number of dengue fever cases reported during the 47th epidemiological week (ME 47) rose by 8.9% or 1,734 cases compared to 1,593 in the previous week, says health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

However, he said no deaths from complications due to dengue fever were reported during the week.

He said the cumulative number of dengue fever cases reported to date was 56,304 compared to 23,547 cases during the corresponding period last year – an increase of 139.1% – while the total number of deaths reported due to dengue fever during the period this year was 37, from 18 in 2021.

"There were also 54 hotspot locations identified this week, compared to 61 the week before, with 25 hotspots in Selangor, 19 in Sabah, seven in the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, two in Perak and one in Sarawak," he said in a statement today.

Noor Hisham said surveillance of chikungunya meanwhile found 18 cases in ME 47 with 11 cases in Penang, four in Selangor, and one each in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka.

"The cumulative number of chikungunya cases to date is 710. For zika surveillance,  1,939 blood samples and 17 urine samples were taken for zika screening and the results were all negative," he said.