Rainy season breeds trouble

Public urged to keep surroundings free of stagnant water

PETALING JAYA: If predictions by meteorologists that Malaysia will be lashed by bouts of heavy rain in the coming weeks come true, then what is certain to follow is the creation of many mosquito breeding grounds, especially for the dengue virus-bearing Aedes.

The Meteorological Department announced on its website that the northeast moonsoon, which had started and would last until March next year, will bring along four to five episodes of widespread heavy rain that may continue for three to seven days.

Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) health director Dr Chitradavi Vadivellu said that the rainy days followed by hot and humid weather would allow mosquitoes to thrive.

“We can’t just blame the rain though, as the public must do its part by keeping their surroundings free of stagnant water,” she said.

Aedes can lay eggs in patches of water as small as a fifty sen coin, and their life cycle can be as short as eight days.

The eggs can withstand dry periods of a few months, making Aedes eradication a difficult task.

To that effect, local councils will be using Communication for Behavioural Impact (Combi) teams to educate residents on the importance of keeping their areas free of breeding sites.

“The council will also send teams to search and destroy breeding sites at locations that are confirmed to be dengue hotspots,” said Dr Chitradavi, who also attributed the high number of dengue cases to the fact that some unrelated fever cases were also be mistakenly diagnosed as dengue.

The Health Ministry recorded the highest number of dengue cases in a single week this year with 1,680 cases recorded from Oct 20 to 26, with Selangor having the largest increase at 1,142 cases, up by 272 cases from the previous week.

From Jan 1 to Oct 26, a total of 28,707 cases were recorded, which represents a 58% increase compared to the corresponding period last year.