Dengue cases continue to rise in Pasir Ris, Jurong West

The number of dengue cases is going down in most areas except for two clusters in Pasir Ris and Jurong West. The cumulative cases since the beginning of 2013 for Pasir Ris and Jurong West are 133 and 95 respectively

SINGAPORE: The number of dengue cases is going down in most areas except for two clusters in Pasir Ris and Jurong West.

The cumulative cases since the beginning of 2013 for Pasir Ris and Jurong
West are 133 and 95 respectively.

Derek Ho, the National Environment Agency's (NEA) director-general for Public Health, said: "Typically, other clusters may be seeing an increase of one to two cases a week, but in these two areas, we are seeing an increase of 10 cases a
week. So these are signs that the clusters there are growing more rapidly than in other areas."

Mr Ho explained that the virus circulating in these two areas is the DEN-1 virus. It is believed that residents there lack immunity to the virus, leading to its rapid spread.

The NEA said it is intensifying checks and deploying more manpower resources in these two areas.

The number of weekly dengue cases has dropped to its lowest since April -- 198 were reported from July 28 to August 1, compared to 306 the week before.

On Monday, Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said that Singapore is not fully out of danger yet as it is still the peak dengue season. 

Source: Channel Newsasia

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