Many stings in this dengue tale
By Leong Wee Keat, TODAY | Posted: 20 June 2007 1125 hrs

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The dengue situation here has hit epidemic level for the first time since 2005, with 401 cases reported last week.

The outbreak is officially regarded as an epidemic when more than 378 cases are reported in a week. The last dengue epidemic was in October 2005, when the weekly tally hit 387.

Last week's figure is a hefty 37 per cent increase from the 293 reported cases the week before.

The 2,868 cases in the first six months of this year is double the number for the same period last year.

And this upward trend is occuring despite the authorities stepping up enforcement efforts.

Last month, the National Environment Agency (NEA) deployed 300 more enforcement officers and conducted almost double the number of inspections carried out in April.

Two factors for the surge are recent spells of intermittent rain coupled with warm weather, which facilitates Aedes mosquito breeding, and the shift in primary strain from DEN-1 to DEN-2.

Deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Health, Dr Lam Pin Min, said that Singaporeans remained "complacent".

"They have the mentality that it will not happen to them," he told Today. "They also tend to be not so vigilant in checking possible water storage areas."

In all, 296 clusters were recorded this year — nearly four times that of last year's 77. There are currently 10 clusters with 10 or more cases. Those at Kim Keat Road and West Coast Drive have reported the most number of cases — 23 each.

A dengue cluster is formed when two or more dengue cases occur within 14 days and within 150m of each other.

Health GPC chairman Halimah Yacob also urged the authorities to reach out to foreign workers. Noting the growth in construction activity here, she suggested the authorities engage workers in their own languages to ensure they understand the dangers of dengue.

Dengue has claimed two lives this year: Loy Boon Hock, 63, and Vun Kyn Hee, 85.- TODAY/sh

RACE ON TO FIND VACCINE

Scientists are racing to find a vaccine for dengue and to discover the reasons why dengue epidemics are becoming more frequent.

And while a drug could be ready for human testing by the end of next year, the research still has a long way to go. Professor Paul Herrling, chairman of the Singapore-based Novartis Institute of Tropical Diseases, said it would take up to seven years to get the drug onto the market if initial trials are successful. In the meantime, there is a risk the virus will mutate, he said. — Channel NewsAsia