Mansor (front, seventh left) and Dr Jamilah, on his right, join Dr Lee and Dr Ngian (front, eighth and ninth left, respectively) in a group photo with the ‘gotong-royong’ volunteers. Also seen are (from right) Rogayah and Lau.
SIBU: The decline in reported dengue cases in Sarawak can be attributed to concerted efforts from all quarters in curbing the spread of the disease.
Between Jan 1 and Nov 3 this year, Sarawak recorded 586 dengue cases, versus 857 cases registered during the same period last year.
This represented a 31.6 per cent decline – or down by 271 cases, said Sarawak Federal Secretary Datuk Mansor Man.
“There’s also a reduction in the number of death cases (due to dengue) in Sarawak this year (between Jan 1 and Nov 3) by 75 per cent – down to three cases, from four deaths reported during the same period in 2017,” he told reporters after launching ‘Gotong-Royong Mega Sarawak 2.0’ at Farley Commercial Centre here yesterday.
In giving the breakdown of cases by division, Mansor said Kuching had 133 cases, followed by Sibu with 88 cases, Samarahan (69), Betong (59), Kapit (50), Miri (41), Serian (39), Sarikei (38), Sri Aman (33), Bintulu (15), Limbang (12) and Mukah (nine).
He said although the total number of cases in Sarawak had declined, the public must not let their guard down – instead, they must continue with the preventive measures proactively.
For the whole of last year, Mansor said Sarawak recorded 952 cases, with 52 episodes of outbreaks involving 49 localities across 22 districts.
“Whereas between Jan 1 and Nov 3 this year, there were 586 dengue cases reported in Sarawak, with 35 episodes of outbreaks involving 33 localities in 14 districts.”
He recalled Sibu having once had several of its locations declared as dengue outbreak zones last year, involving five localities – with the control period for each outbreak spanning between 14 and 22 days.
This year to date, he observed two series of outbreaks here – one at Medang Road and the other at Kangkung Road – registering two and six cases, respectively.
These, he said, were regarded as ‘controlled outbreaks’.
Meanwhile Sarawak Health director Dr Jamilah Hashim, who was also present at the event, said 252 compound notices were issued between Jan 1 and Sept 30 this year, to those whose premises were found to be the breeding grounds of Aedes mosquitoes – the carrier of the dengue virus.
These notices represented total compound amounting to RM126,000.
“From this amount, RM49,250 has been collected,” she said.
Dr Jamilah also said for this period to date, 41,887 premises across Sarawak had been inspected by the department to determine if they were potential breeding ground for Aedes mosquitoes.
“From this, 1,555 premises were found positive for Aedes breeding,” she disclosed.
The ‘gotong-royong’ (work party) against Aedes and dengue here was among many simultaneously held all over the country yesterday.
It was a programme under the Ministry of Health.
The event here involved 340 people.
Sibu Divisional Health officer Dr Lee Jo Hun, Sibu Hospital director Dr Ngian Hie Ung, Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) deputy chairperson Rogayah Jamain and Farley Group of Companies general manager Eijing Lau were also present.