The number of asthma cases rose to 3.5 percent with 1,265 cases for the week of Sept 15 to 21 compared with 1,222 cases in the previous week.

This is due to the current haze blanketing most parts of the country since a few weeks ago.

Ministry of Health (MOH) director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said conjunctivitis cases also rose 51.4 percent to 403 cases in the same week, compared with 266 cases the week before.

"However, cases involving upper respiratory tract Infection (URTI) showed a decline of 9.6 percent, (8,258 to 7,465 cases), in the same period,” he said in a statement today.

Noor Hisham said his ministry is constantly monitoring developments of health diseases related to the haze through its 33 haze sentinel facilities around the country.

He advised the elderly, children and those with existing respiratory-related ailments such as asthma, bronchitis and allergies to take preventive measures to limit the effects of the current haze.

For more information on preventive measures, members of the public can visit MOH's official website.

- Bernama