Story and photos by ELAN PERUMALelan@thestar.com.my
IT is still the first month of the year but the dengue outbreak has claimed the lives of six people so far in Selangor.
The number also makes up more than half of the total death of 11 people in the country in January.
The state government is also alarmed that the death toll has reached 25% of the total number of 48 deaths due to dengue in Selangor for the whole of last year.
A total of 1,383 dengue cases have been reported in the state so far compared with 18,675 cases for the whole of last year.
Petaling District recorded the highest number with 766 cases and had the highest number of deaths, numbering five while Hulu Langat had one death with a total of 216 cases.
Ideal breeding ground: Indiscriminate dumping of waste outside the Mentari Court Apartments in Petaling District.
In anticipation of the increase in the number of cases for this year, the state government has taken various steps to keep the situation under control.
State health, estate workers affairs, poverty eradication and caring government committee chairman Dr Xavier Jeyakumar said the state had anticipated a higher number of cases this year as 2010 was expected to be the “spike” year in the two-year cycle for the breeding of the aedes mosquitos.
Dr Xavier said the number of dengue cases would increase once in every two years.
However, he said the sixth death this month was alarming and the state was not taking any chances.
Dr Xavier said various measures were in place and they were working closely with the State Health Department and the local authorities.
He said awareness campaigns were conducted in dengue-prone and infected areas since last year.
Besides distributing flyers and pamplets on the need to prevent the breeding of the aedes mosquitos to the public, he said they would conduct aedes mosquito clearing operation when there was a cluster infection in a particular area.
“Dengue has become a common occurrence in urban areas, especially in high density areas, including at construction sites, apartments, abandoned projects, fields, ponds and lakes.
“Besides residential areas, public places like recreational spots, shopping malls, food courts, terminals for LRT, bus and taxi as well as tourists destinations have also become a breeding ground for aedes,” he said
Dr Xavier said educational institutions including schools, colleges and universitites in the state have also been indentified as breeding grounds.
Creating awareness: Dr Xavier distributing flyers on aedes mosquitoes to the public during a campaign in Klang.
Upon identifying victims, the entire enforcement team would be moblised to the area in order to identify and destroy the breeding spots, he said.
He said besides fogging, they also held gotong-royong to clean up and clear the breeding spots.
Dr Xavier said all this came about due to irresponsible actions such as littering and indiscriminate dumping of rubbish.
He said it only required several drops of clear and stagnant water for the aedes mosquitos to breed and indiscriminately dumped drink cans, plastic bottles and containers were enough for this.
He said while the state and the authorities were doing their part, the people must also take measures to fight the dengue menace.
He said maintaining cleanliness of the premises alone was not enough to keep away the aedes mosquitoes.
“We must ensure our surroundings like the compound, the drain outside the premises and even the park in the area are kept clean.
“Everyone must help keep the situation under control,” he said
Meanwhile, Shah Alam is on high alert for a spike in dengue cases in the first quarter of this year.
“The Health Ministry has noted a two-year cycle in dengue cases, whereby there is usually a spike in the first three months every two years,” said Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) Urban Services Department director Dr Roslan Fadzil during the MBSA full board meeting yesterday.
During a state-level meeting on Tuesday, Dr Roslan said all local councils in Selangor were reminded to put in extra effort to overcome the problem.
“The MBSA has all its resources on standby and is conducting regular fogging and “search and destroy” programmes. We are also working closely with the District Health Office,” he said.
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