1,277 dengue fever cases reported this year

Serious concerns continue to be raised about the rising cases of dengue fever since more than 1,000 cases have been reported in the first two months of this year.

According to the Ministry of Health, 1,277 dengue cases have been reported this year, with 757 cases recorded in the Western Division, 273 cases in the Central Division, 221 cases in the Northern Division and 31 cases in the Eastern Division.

The Ministry is advising the public to continue to be vigilant and take the necessary measures to protect themselves and their families from dengue.

They say although a dengue outbreak was declared for the Western Division on the 3rd of this month, all divisions have been advised to be on alert for dengue.

It says the increasing dengue trends seen this year are expected as a result of the heavy rain and flooding that the country has been experiencing over the past months.

The Ministry is also monitoring hospital admissions from divisional and sub-divisional hospitals, with a noted increase in dengue hospital admissions reported mainly from the Western Division.

The Health Ministry says in anticipation of the rise in dengue cases, they conducted outbreak response training for divisional and sub-divisional teams to investigate and respond to expected outbreak situations during the annual Divisional Outbreak Response Training conducted from October to November last year.

They add that in the past month, the Ministry has continued to actively respond to the increasing number of dengue cases through the early recognition, treatment and referral of cases as required.

The Ministry is also continuing to heighten its surveillance for dengue and its awareness, and public health campaigns for source reduction and control of vectors for dengue.

The Ministry is reminding members of the public to take heed of public advisories on dengue and leptospirosis that have been issued and also advertisements that are currently being aired on various media platforms.

The Health Ministry continues to urge members of the public to learn about dengue fever, take precautions to prevent infection, and present early