In the wake of the increase in dengue cases, the Health Ministry has ordered for stricter enforcement against owners of premises found to be ground for breeding of Aedes mosquitoes and private medical practitioners who failed to report dengue cases.

Last week alone, six deaths due to dengue were reported, three of them in Selangor, bringing the total death from the illness this year to 31.

Health director-general Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said for the week between Feb 21 and 27, a total of 1,121 dengue cases were reported, an increase of 20 per cent, from 935 cases the previous week during which two deaths were reported.

"The number of cases reported for the week (Feb 21 to 27) was the highest since last year," he added.

He said Penang reported the highest increase in dengue cases, at 55 per cent from the previous week, followed by Sarawak (39 per cent), Perak (33 per cent), Selangor (29 per cent), the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur-Putrajaya (25 per cent), Pahang (24 per cent) and Melaka (17 per cent).

Dr Mohd Ismail said although the number of dengue cases reported this year dropped by 16 per cent at 8,349, compared with the corresponding period last year, which was 9,937 cases, the number of fatalities was high. Twenty-eight deaths due to dengue were reported during the period last year.

He said a meeting was held yesterday, following which a directive was issued for all state and district health offices to monitor and abide by the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) on dengue control to prevent the spread of the disease.

The meeting also agreed to strengthen management of dengue cases in hospitals and to take immediate action against cases that had been reported, he added.

On Chikungunya, 22 cases were reported last week, from 29 the previous week.

- Bernama