NEA urges 'urgent collective action' to prevent year-end surge in dengue cases
There are currently 49 dengue clusters in Singapore and nine of them are large clusters with 10 or more cases.
SINGAPORE: The National Environment Agency (NEA) has urged the public to take "urgent collective action to control mosquito breeding" in order to prevent a year-end surge in dengue cases.
In a media release on Thursday (Oct 19), the agency said that the weekly number of reported dengue cases has "increased steadily", reaching a high of more than 300 cases in the last three weeks of September.
There were 266 and 215 reported dengue cases in the first and second week of October respectively.
"Continued action and vigilance remain critical, as weekly dengue cases remain high," said NEA, adding that warmer than usual weather in the coming months from the El Nino phenomenon may worsen the situation.
"Should the number of weekly dengue cases remain high, Singapore could start the following year with an atypically large number of weekly dengue cases," it warned.
This was the case in 2019 and 2021, when the year-end dengue case numbers were high and resulted in large dengue outbreaks in the following years, NEA added.
LARGE TOA PAYOH DENGUE CLUSTERS CLOSED
There are currently 49 dengue clusters in Singapore and nine of them are large clusters with 10 or more cases. They include the 112-case cluster at Club Street and the 83-case cluster at Lentor Loop.
NEA said that as of Wednesday, about 95 per cent of the dengue clusters notified since the start of the year have been closed.
Among the large clusters closed in the last month are three large clusters at Toa Payoh with 582 cases.
NEA continues to work closely with grassroots advisers and community volunteers, to reach out to and advise residents on dengue prevention efforts, said the agency, noting that Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and the Environment Mr Baey Yam Keng was at a dengue prevention outreach session at Lentor Estate on Thursday afternoon.
"As the year-end holiday season approaches, NEA urges everyone to maintain good housekeeping, mosquito-proof their homes before they travel, and stay vigilant against the continuing dengue threat."
