PENANG: The Health Ministry has declared war on dengue after recording 11 deaths and 2,713 cases this month.
Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the number of deaths due to dengue fever was on the rise this week, especially in Selangor.
“Dengue fever in the country is on the rise and the number (of deaths) is an alarming indication for everyone to act, as from Jan 17 to Jan 21, we had recorded 776 dengue cases with six deaths,” he said.
He said, however, that Penang had yet to record any death due to dengue fever, although the number of cases had reached 85 cases, so far this year.
Liow was speaking to reporters after officiating at the Freshural Korean Sauna Technology here yesterday.
In 2009, 88 deaths were reported in 4,100 cases while in the previous year, there were 112 deaths in 4,900 cases. — Bernama