Dengue cases are on the rise during this wet season, says the Health Ministry.

The number of cases reported in the country from Dec 10 to 16 was 985, which is 35 cases higher compared to the previous week, said the director-general of the Health Mi­­nis­try.

Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya and eight states – Penang, Johor, Perak, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Sarawak, Melaka and Perlis – showed an increase in the number of cases.

However, he said compared to 98,438 cases in the corresponding period last year, the cumulative number of cases this year up to Dec 16 decreased by 16,648 to 81,790.

“One death due to dengue was re­­ported between Dec 10 and 16, bringing the cumulative number of deaths up to Dec 16 to 170, compared to 230 in 2016,” he said.

Noor Hisham added that no cases of chikungunya were reported for the week.

On the Zika virus surveillance done by the National Public Health Laboratory, he said the test results of 2,199 blood samples and 33 urine samples of patients with symptoms were negative.

- Bernama