NEA urges vigilance to avoid dengue resurgence

The dengue situation this year has eased after last year's record number of cases, but the authorities are urging people to keep their guard up and stamp out mosquito breeding grounds at home to avoid a resurgence of the disease.

More than 2,000 cases have been reported so far this year, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said yesterday, as it announced the launch of this year's dengue prevention campaign.

Infections had surged past the 10,000 mark by early June last year. NEA expects cases to rise towards the middle of the year, with the weather getting warmer. Two other factors could contribute to a worsening situation, it said.

The first is the high populations of the adult Aedes aegypti mosquito - the vector which spreads the dengue virus - in some areas.

The other is the spread of dengue virus serotypes previously uncommon here. This means people would not have immunity against infection from these serotypes.

From 2016, the predominant serotype in Singapore was serotype 2, NEA said. But, over the past two months, there have been more cases of serotypes 3 and 4 (DENV-3 and DENV-4), which now make up more than 60 per cent of cases sampled.

"As DENV-3 has not been dominant since about three decades ago, and the incidence of DENV-4 has consistently been low, more people are susceptible to these two serotypes currently in circulation," NEA said.

The launch of the national campaign aims to rally the community to deal with the threat seriously, the agency added.

The islandwide effort will be led by grassroots advisers and leaders, with support from NEA volunteers, who will conduct house visits to inform residents about common mosquito breeding habitats, and share dengue prevention tips.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of visits to households in Zhenghua division in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Desmond Tan said while the situation had eased this year, the number of cases had started to climb in recent weeks.

For instance, 131 cases were reported between April 18 and last Saturday, up from 112 between April 11 and April 17, and 102 the week before that.

The circuit breaker likely caused a spike in cases last year, he noted, as there were greater chances of mosquitoes biting people when they were always at home.

With people going back to workplaces, Mr Tan hopes the numbers will come down. "But we have to prevent mosquito breeding in the first place," he said.