Singapore: Rise in dengue cases for the 5th week, more than 9,900 cases reported this year

The National Environment Agency has alerted the public to expect an increase in the number of dengue cases in the coming months.

Dengue cases in Singapore have exceeded its last reports, with more than 200 new cases for the fifth week in a row, according to latest figures published on the National Environment Agency's (NEA) dengue website.

There were 266 reported cases of dengue in the week ending Jul 23, but another 33 cases were reported from Sunday (July 24) to 3pm on Monday (July 25).

Overall, 9,912 cases have been reported in Singapore since the start of 2016, whereas a little more than 11,200 cases were reported in the whole of 2015.

This year, six people have died from dengue which is again two more than in the whole of last year.

NEA has repeatedly alerted the public regarding the upward trend in the mosquito-borne virus disease. It has also warned them to expect an increase in the number of cases in the coming months as the Gravitrap data shows a steady rise increase in the Aedes mosquito population since April.

The agency added that the eradication of mosquito breeding habitats and spraying of insecticides are the key methods to prevent dengue.

There were 43 active dengue clusters as of Monday and nine of those were classified as high-risk.

At present, a cluster in Telok Kurau is of the highest risk. The cluster has reported almost 83 cases, including 11 cases in the last two weeks.

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