BY LOH FOON FONG, AUDREY EDWARDS, WANI MUTHIAH, HEMANANTHANI SIVANANDAM, AND A. RUBAN
PETALING JAYA: The current surge of dengue cases is the result of a change in variation of the dengue virus, the Health Ministry said.
Deputy Health director-general Datuk S. Jeyaindran said there was usually an outbreak whenever there was a change in the dengue virus serotype as fewer people would be immune to the serotype after the change.
Moreover, the current serotype, DEN-2, was more virulent, he said, adding: “That is why we are seeing more deaths.”
It was reported that 10,712 cases and 19 deaths were reported this year up to Feb 6 compared to 2,836 cases and eight deaths over the same period last year.
Based on previous reports, Malaysia experienced its worst dengue outbreak in 2008 with 49,335 cases, while the highest death toll was in 2010 with 134 fatalities from 45,901 reported dengue cases.
The numbers dropped the following year until last year when it began to increase again.
Dr Jeyaindran said that the DEN-2 serotype was discovered sometime mid-last year.
“Before that, it was the DEN-4 serotype,” he said.
“The DEN-2 serotype cases appeared to have started in Singapore and then were found in Johor at the end of last year and subsequently reached Malacca, Negri Sembilan and Selangor,” he said.
Dengue infections are caused by four closely related viruses, namely serotypes DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4.
Each has different interactions with the antibodies in human blood serum.
The change in serotype is one reason a major dengue outbreak could occur as individuals are protected from infections with the remaining three serotypes for only two to three months after the first dengue infection.
When two or more dengue cases are detected in a village or a residential area, it is considered an outbreak.
Patients left feeling impatient after long wait
KUALA LUMPUR: Overcrowding at hospitals in the Klang Valley due to the high numbers of dengue cases has resulted in many patients having to wait for hours before being treated or warded.
One of them, Muhd Shafik Tajuddin recalls waiting for 16 hours before he was admitted.
Muhd Shafik, 25, a factory worker living in Taman Medan, Petaling Jaya, said he had fever for three days and then vomited blood on Tuesday at around 3am.
His father sent him to the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). They arrived at 7am.
The hospital was already crowded with patients then. By the time all the tests were done, it was 3pm.
Muhd Shafik was finally admitted at about 11pm.
“Yes, it was a long wait and I felt exhausted,” he said at the newly opened Ward 9SB for dengue patients at UMMC.
Muhd Shafik said that his younger brother Muhd Izhan, 23, was the first in the family to suffer from dengue fever and was sent by ambulance to Hospital Kuala Lumpur but has since been discharged.
Their mother Anisah Kuhni, 45, was also warded at the same hospital for dengue.
Despite the long wait, Muhd Shafik said that he was satisfied with the service at the hospital as the staff had taken care very good care of him.
On Thursday, UMMC director Prof Datuk Dr Ikram Shah Ismail said that the hospital was overwhelmed with dengue patients and appealed to patients with minor ailments not related to dengue to seek treatment at other government clinics or other hospitals.
He said that the hospital had 1,084 beds with a bed occupancy rate of almost 99%.
To cater to the surge in dengue cases, a new ward, Ward 9SB with 18 beds was opened at Menara Selatan.
No comments:
Post a Comment