Fogging in S’kan as 25 dengue cases recorded

SANDAKAN: Sandakan Health Officer Dr Johari Awang Besar has asked the people to cooperate with health personnel who are conducting fogging at their residential areas following the rise of dengue fever cases here.

Johari also asked residents to cooperate when health personnel inspect around their house compound for possible mosquito breeding spots.

“When our personnel are conducting the fogging, please cover food inside your house, close your windows and open all room doors and front doors to ensure that the fog is inside the house in order to kill mosquitoes that are trapped inside your house,” he added.

Sandakan recorded 25 dengue cases from October 7 to 13, which is a significant increase from 14 cases recorded the previous week.

Johari said although this figure was not serious, the Health Department had advised the public to take extra precaution so that the figure would not increase.

He said that this record marked the highest dengue cases per week for this year in Sandakan, and had put Sandakan as the sixth place with the highest number of dengue cases (per week) in Sabah.

Eight places in Sandakan have recorded with two (or more) dengue cases (in two or more consecutive weeks), including Taman Indah Jaya Phase 3, Kampung Sundang Laut, Kampung Bakau Batu Sapi, Rancangan Sg Kapor, Rancangan Sungai Manila P1, Desa Permai squatter settlement, Taman Bahagia and Taman Sejati Ujana.

Johari said that residents living in these areas should go to the hospital immediately if they had symptoms of fever.

“All village heads or mosque chairmen are encouraged to initiate ‘gotong royong' to clean up these areas. Residents are advised to destroy possible mosquito breeding places and clean rubbish inside and outside their houses.

“Locals in general are advised not to be outside the house during mosquito active time, from 5am to 7am and 5pm to 7pm,” he said, adding that residents should close their windows during this time and spray with aerosol mosquito spray.

“We are doing all we could to bring the figure down, and hopefully at the end of this week, we will have a reduction in dengue cases here,” he said.