Malaysia Reports 457 Dengue Cases as of Friday

KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 (Bernama) -- A total of 457 dengue cases were reported throughout the country as at 6pm Friday, according to the iDengue website managed by the Health Ministry. Western peninsular state of Selangor recorded the highest number of cases at 203, followed by northeast Kelantan state with 137 cases. To date, 124 dengue hotspots had been identified throughout the country, including Petaling, Gombak, Hulu Langat, Hulu Selangor, Seremban and Kota Baharu. Section 7E B Commercial Centre in Petaling, Selangor was the hotspot with the highest cumulative number of cases (111). The website also stated that Federal Territories and Kelantan were among dengue-prone areas with 134 and 62 hotspots respectively. According to a ministry spokesman, hospitals throughout the nation were still capable of providing beds to dengue patients and were prepared to handle dengue cases even during Eid. The death toll due to dengue recorded nationwide from January 1 to July 20 was 94, which was an increase of 224 percent compared to 29 deaths reported during the same period last year. The number of dengue cases reported from Jan 1 until Friday was 51,987 compared to only 14,755 recorded during the corresponding period last year. -- BERNAMA