Health Alerts

Dengue fever cases reported to Dec 3 are very close to exceeding the record of 120,836 infections registered in 2015 – more than half this year have been in the state of Selangor. Elsewhere in the region, Myanmar recorded more than 23,200 cases of dengue for the year to Nov 23 and unusually high numbers of haemorrhagic fever among children have resulted in a year-on-year rise in dengue-related deaths; worst affected regions were Kachin, Yangon, Ayeyarwady and Mandalay. The dry season has finally arrived in Bangladesh, bringing a drop in dengue infections, although new cases continue to be reported. A summary of the YTD situation shows how bad a season it has been: more than 100,000 people hospitalised for treatment of dengue – the worst month was August, averaging 2,500 admissions daily. An article on this year’s severe dengue fever outbreak in Nepal notes that all but 10 districts were affected and infections occurred at altitudes of up to 2,000m; the nationwide case count of almost 14,500 is also likely to be an underestimate of the true figure.  Read more.