The number of dengue fever-related fatalities has risen to 85 in Malaysia from the beginning of the year through March 14, according to Malaysian health authorities (computer translated).
The total number of cases through Sunday shows 29,650 dengue fever cases reported in 2015 to date, averaging about 400 newly reported cases daily.
The states of Selangor (17,732), Perak (3,185), Johor (1,522) and Pulau Pinang (1,305) have reported the highest number of cases.
According to the World Health Organization, dengue is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito infected with one of the four dengue virus serotypes. It is a febrile illness that affects infants, young children and adults with symptoms appearing 3-14 days after the infective bite. As many as 400 million people areinfected yearly.
Dengue is not transmitted directly from person-to-person and symptoms range from mild fever, to incapacitating high fever, with severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain, and rash. There is no vaccine or any specific medicine to treat dengue. People who have dengue fever should rest, drink plenty of fluids and reduce the fever using paracetamol or see a doctor.
Severe dengue (also known as dengue hemorrhagic fever) is characterized by fever, abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, bleeding and breathing difficulty and is a potentially lethal complication, affecting mainlychildren. Early clinical diagnosis and careful clinical management by trained physicians and nurses increase survival of patients.
