DISTURBING STATISTICS: Dr Penguang (left) shows the weekly dengue cases chart this year compared to 2012 while Sarawak Health director Datu Dr Zulkifli Jantan shows a chart on Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease cases.
Sharp spike in number of viral diseases sends shivers down the spine of Health Department
KUCHING: The state’s Health Department is alarmed over a sharp increase in cases of three viral diseases last month in the state and called on the public to take the necessary precautions. Two deaths were reported due to dengue fever, which is now at the epidemic level in the state, while cases of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) increased by nearly three-fold – from 287 cases in January last year to 723 cases for the same period this year.
“As at Jan 29 this year, 12 confirmed cases of Influenza A(H1N1) had been reported compared to only 12 confirmed cases for the whole of 2012,” the State Local Government and Community Development Ministry’s permanent secretary, Datu Dr Penguang Manggil, said yesterday.
He said only one fatal dengue case was recorded in the whole of last year while 219 dengue cases were reported in the first month of this year compared to only 65 cases in the corresponding period last year.
Of the 219 cases, 101 or 46.1 per cent cases occurred in the rural areas and the remaining in urban areas.
“Two dengue deaths have been reported so far, one each from Kuching and Bintulu. This is sad news because last year we only had one death, but this January alone, we saw two deaths,” said Dr Penguang .
He said seven dengue outbreak areas had been identified in the state, with two each in Kuching and Bintulu, and one each in Sibu, Limbang and Lawas.
Dr Penguang said the authorities would launch aggressive health promotion campaigns in high risk public places and carry out mass fogging operations to reduce breeding grounds.
“Every household and commercial unit is responsible for the cleanliness of their compound and premises. If they fail to do so and discovered by us, they will be compounded RM500.”
Last year alone, he said the Health Department had collected RM674,300 from compounds, the highest amount so far.”
Dr Penguang admitted that the authorities found it hard getting certain quarters to keep their environment clean.
He said squatter areas posed a great challenge to the department and local councils since they were illegal hence had no access to proper facilities.
“Some of them treat the river as their dumping ground while there are others who do not have proper maintenance of drains.
Dr Penguang also called on members of the public to take precautions in view of the rising trend of influenza A(H1N1) cases especially with the expected mass movement of people during the coming Lunar New Year holidays.
He added that six of the 12 cases detected in the state so far were from clusters in Samarahan, Kuching and Betong.
He said the authorities would go all-out to make sure that public places such as eateries, coffeeshops, markets and shopping malls must ensure that their toilets, wash basins and handrails of escalators were clean.
On HFMD, Dr Penguang disclosed that one closure order has been served to SK Nanga Ensiring in Julau under Section 18(1)(d), ACT 342 Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 while Tadika Sinar Pelangi in Sarikei had one voluntary closure.
“A total of 62 disease clusters have been reported this year. While most of the clusters are family clusters, the other clusters involved are child care centres and primary schools.
“Fortunately, all the cases reported so far are mild. A total of 90 cases have been admitted and discharged. As they are all mild cases, no death has been reported.”
Miri reported the most number of cases at 173 followed by Kuching with 125 cases, Sarikei (81) and Samarahan (73).
The districts that show increasing number of cases are Samarahan, Simunjan, Serian, Saratok, Sarikei, Julau, Dalat, Sibu, Kapit and Marudi.