Nearly 12,000 dengue cases reported in Singapore this year

Channel NewsAsia 27 Sep 16;

SINGAPORE: Nearly 12,000 dengue cases have been reported in Singapore so far this year, according to figures published on the National Environment Agency (NEA) on Tuesday (Sep 27).

There were 176 dengue cases in the week ending Sep 24, up marginally from the 174 cases reported in the previous week. Another 25 cases were reported between Sep 25 and 3pm on Sep 26.

A total of 11,924 dengue cases have been reported in Singapore since the start of the year, compared with 11,286 cases in the whole of 2015. Seven people have died of the disease so far, with the latest fatality a 79-year-old man who lived in Eastwood Drive near Upper East Coast Road. There were four dengue fatalities last year.

There are now 35 active dengue clusters in Singapore – down from 40 the previous week – including seven classified as high-risk. The biggest cluster is in the area around Yishun Avenue 4 and Yishun Street 61, where 56 cases have been reported, including seven in the past fortnight.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) and NEA have warned that the number of dengue cases in Singapore may exceed 30,000 this year, higher than the record of 22,170 reported in 2013.

Singapore also reported its first case of locally transmitted Zika late last month. It has since confirmed a total of 393 cases.

- CNA/cy