Dengue claims first Johor victim

JOHOR BARU: The state claimed its first dengue victim this year – a 42-year-old male from Taman Tebrau Jaya near here.

Johor Health and Environment committee chairman Datuk Ayub Rahmat said there were 563 dengue cases in Johor between Jan 17 to 23 – down by 16 cases from the previous week.

However, he said there were 1,655 cases reported in the first three weeks of the year compared to 486 during the corresponding period of 2015.

“Although we only recorded one death in January against two last year, we are not resting on our laurels,” said Ayub.

He said the Johor Baru district recorded the highest number of dengue cases in the state with 77.9% of the 563 cases between Jan 17 and 23, followed by Kulai with 5.2%, Batu Pahat (3.6%), Kluang and Segamat (3.4%) each, Kota Tinggi (2.8%), Pontian (1.8%), Muar (0,9%), Tangkak (0.7%) and Mersing (0.4%).

“Johor Baru people have only themselves to blame for failing to maintain the cleanliness of their surroundings, which has contributed to the rise of dengue cases in the Johor Baru district,” said Ayub.

He said the anti-dengue programmes and the deployment of personnel from the health departments from other districts on a rotation basis did not yield the desired results.

“The only way to prevent dengue from spreading is to practise the highest standards of hygiene, but sadly most urbanites are not doing that,” Ayub said.