KUCHING: Kuching District recorded a drastic increase in dengue fever cases in the first four months of the year.
Kuching Division health officer Dr Azlee Ayub said from January to April, 159 cases were reported compared to only 11 last year during the same period.
No deaths have been reported so far.
“This increase is worrying, and we need to work harder to control the situation,” he said when officiating at a community outreach programme on the control and prevention of Zika virus and vector borne diseases at SK Gersik here yesterday.
The programme is an initiative by the United States Embassy, which provides grants to the Ministry of Health for Zika virus control and prevention programmes in the Asia-Pacific region.
Dr Azlee said dengue fever, Zika virus and Chikungunya virus were spread by Aedes mosquitoes, adding that there was a need to prevent mosquitoes from multiplying.
“The bigger the population of mosquitoes, the higher the risk of people being infected by dengue fever, Zika and Chikungunya.”
Dr Azlee urged the public to spend about 10 minutes a week to go around their houses and compounds to check for any mosquito breeding places.
These breeding places should be destroyed and anything holding water needed to be emptied, he added.
Meanwhile, he confirmed that Japanese encephalitis was the cause of death of a female university student last week, adding that the victim from Bau was infected by the virus last year.
