SIX deaths due to dengue fever complications were reported from October 15 to 21, health director-general Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan said.

He said no deaths due to dengue fever complications were recorded from October 8 to 14.

In a statement today, Radzi said the number of dengue cases last week was down by 0.4% (2,262 cases) from the previous week.

He said the total number of dengue fever cases reported up to last week was 96,443, a rise of 100.5% from the 48,109 cases in the same period in 2022.

“Seventy-three deaths due to dengue fever complications have been reported compared to 29 deaths for the same period in 2022,” he said.

Radzi said the number of hotspots decreased to 73 last week compared with 79 the previous week, with 51 in Selangor, nine in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, five in Perak, three in Negri Sembilan, two in Sarawak and one each in Kedah, Penang and Sabah.

He said one chikungunya case was recorded last week, pushing the total number of cases so far to 177, while in the ministry’s zika surveillance, 2,842 blood samples and 286 urine samples were screened, with the results all negative.

“The Health Ministry will continue to enforce the Destruction of Disease-Bearing Insects Act 1975 throughout the country to curb dengue cases and reduce the risk of infection in the community,” he said. – Bernama, October 28, 2023.