Weekly dengue cases fall
By Ng Lian Cheong | Posted: 10 August 2011 2053 hrs
SINGAPORE: The number of weekly dengue cases dropped last week, after rising for six straight weeks.
From a peak of 263, it dropped to 218.
The biggest dengue cluster last week was at Woodlands Sector 1, which had 41 cases.
But it was removed on Wednesday from the National Environment Agency's active cluster list.
This came after no new cases was reported in the area over the last two weeks.
According to the Ministry of Health, three out of 10 people who contracted dengue over the past two years, were foreigners.
Raffles Hospital infectious diseases specialist Leong Hoe Nam explained why the virus can be transmitted quickly.
"The aedes aegypti mosquito has an unusual eating habit. It is a 'buffet' mosquito," Dr Leong said.
"It will take a few bites of several people before it stops feeding. You can imagine that the group of people would be sitting down, having a social gathering, and the mosquitoes would feed off seven or eight of them before it stops feeding, and hence the virus can be transmitted very quickly."
-CNA/wk
- wong chee tat :)
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