Main image via Medical Daily + Bangkok Post + Rojak Daily
Besides dealing with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Malaysians have another health concern to be worried about and that’s dengue.
Recently, Director-General of Health Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah warned that there would be a second wave of dengue cases after seeing an upwards trend of 8% for six consecutive weeks.
Now, experts are further backing up this statement by warning that the current warm and wet climate would lead to a rise in dengue cases, especially with many Malaysians staying indoors.
via GIPHY
The frequent shifts between rain and sunshine could contribute to a rise in dengue cases, said Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences senior research fellow Prof Datuk Dr Azizan Abu Samah
“Now we have intermittent rain combined with high temperature, the chances of (having Aedes mosquitoes) breeding are higher,” he said. “During such intermittent showers, it will rain followed by one or two days where there is no rain, leaving pools of water where Aedes mosquitoes can breed.”
The higher temperature could also lead to a spike in dengue cases, he add.
Image via Rojak Daily
The trend for dengue cases this year was similar to last year’s trend, noted World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus Reference and Research director Prof Dr Sazaly Abu Bakar.
“After the MCO was eased, the number of dengue cases started going up. However, last year, we saw the trend for the month was also about the same, ” he said.
The number of dengue cases may also be related to the yearly weather pattern but more funding needs to be devoted to research to better understand what causes a spike, the director added.
Previous research in Singapore proposed that dengue cases were linked to outdoors mobility but according to the director, the rising number of dengue cases during the country’s Circuit Breaker appear to suggest otherwise.
Singapore recently recorded 1,158 new dengue cases, the highest ever recorded since 2014.
“Some researchers in India suggested that when we stay indoors, especially when it is hot and humid, outbreaks tend to increase and to be more sustained. When we stay indoors, people are more concentrated in those (residential) areas, so mosquitoes have more ‘targets’ to bite, ” he said.
Image via Medical Daily
Authorities could consider “clearing” people from areas that have reported dengue clusters for a certain period of time, Prof Sazaly suggested.
“For Covid-19 clusters, we introduced enhanced MCO in selected areas. So for dengue, we could instead instruct everyone to leave the area and conduct fogging in that area, ” he said.
50,511 cases of dengue fever and 88 deaths were recorded from January to June 13 this year, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba noted. Last year, 56,819 cases and 88 deaths were recorded in the same time period.
Image via Bangkok Post
Please be sure to take all measures you can to stop Aedes mosquitoes from breeding such as ensuring that there’s no stagnant water around.
And if you’re feeling unwell or showing any dengue fever symptoms, please head to your closest doctor to get it checked.
Share this with your family and friends so that they’re aware too!
Info via The Star