Selangor dengue cases expected to spike 150%

Selangor will likely experience a 150% spike in dengue fever cases this year or next if the breeding sites of Aedes mosquitoes are not dealt with seriously by the community.

State public health, unity, women and family development committee chairman, Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud, said as of Feb 11, which is the sixth epidemiological week (ME 6), a total of 6,870 cases had been recorded – an increase of 141.4% compared with the same period last year.

"With the number of dengue cases close to 40,000 last year, just imagine (the spike in cases in 2024) if it is not contained," she said at a press conference in Shah Alam yesterday.

Based on the dengue fever cycle in Malaysia over a period of 20 years, she said every four to five years, the country is expected to experience a steep rise in dengue cases.

"It is expected that a steep rise in cases will occur in 2023 or 2024 after the highest dengue outbreak in 2019," she said, adding that 510 dengue outbreak localities had been detected in the state in ME 6, an increase of 8.5% compared with the 470 localities recorded during the previous week.

The Petaling district recorded the highest number of localities at 203, followed by Hulu Langat (120), Klang (82) and Gombak (69).

Siti Mariah said the state government, in collaboration with the state health department and the relevant agencies, had, with an allocation of nearly RM1 million, begun implementing integrated dengue operations.