Asia dengue fever update: Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines
Dengue fever is being reported in the tens of thousands in parts of southeast Asia, unsurprisingly, as recently as January, the mosquito borne viral disease was given the dubious honor of being ranked as the fastest spreading vector-borne viral disease, with an epidemic potential in the world, according to the Second World Health Organization (WHO) report on neglected tropical diseases.
Southeast Asia
Image/Ichwan Palongengi
The city-state of Singapore is on pace for a record setting year as they are poised to surpass 10,000 cases, literally any day now. The National Environmental Agency (NEA) reported 9,960 cases as of June 14.
The week of June 2 to 8 showed Singapore’s highest one week total of the year with more than 800 cases. To date, there has been two deaths attributed to dengue fever.
The acceleration of dengue fever in recent weeks has prompted the NEA to ramp up their efforts. To bring down the population of adult mosquitoes responsible for transmitting the virus, officers will be seeking residents’ cooperation to apply ultra-low volume (ULV) misting and insecticide aerosol sprays.
Next month, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and NEA will also distribute mosquito repellents to households, starting with those residing in cluster areas. MOH and NEA urge everyone to remain vigilant and perform the Mozzie Wipeout to prevent mosquitoes from breeding in their homes.
In addition, the NEA is recruiting 300 more officers in the next one to two months through the ongoing mass recruitment exercises. This will supplement the current 850-strong vector control team. With the strengthened operational workforce, NEA will be able to inspect 100% of the premises in dengue clusters within a week, as well as to step up preventive surveillance checks in non-cluster areas.
In Thailand, the health ministry will push for the establishment of a dengue fever “war room” in all provinces. The move by Thai health officials comes as the dengue epidemic is currently more than three-times the number compared with the same period last year
As of June 11, 43,609 Thais have contracted dengue fever, including 50 deaths.
In the Philippines, from January to June 8 this year, the National Epidemiology Center has so far logged in a total of 42,207 cases and 193 deaths due to dengue. This figure is one percent lower compared to the same period last year,according to an Inquirer report.
The Central Visayas has been the hardest hit area with 6,023 cases or 51 percent higher compared to the figures culled during the same period last year.
According to the above WHO report published in January, dengue registered a 30-fold increase in disease incidence over the past 50 years.
Although the World Health Organization (WHO) says on their recent fact sheet that they currently estimate there may be 50–100 million dengue infections worldwide every year, researchers from the University of Oxford and the Wellcome Trust, using cartographic approaches, estimate there to be 390 million dengue infections per year worldwide.
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[…] compares to the period of January to June 8, 2013 where the National Epidemiology Center logged in a total of 42,207 cases and 193 deaths due to […]
[…] number of cases are ballooning at a remarkable rate. On June 11, Thai health officials were reporting 43,609 cases and 50 […]