Malaysia health officials noted that as of last weekend, the death toll in the country due to dengue fever has drawn ever closer to the 100 mark with the health ministry reporting 98 dengue-related deaths since the beginning of the year.
With the addition of 323 new dengue cases reported Tuesday, the cumulative total across all states is now 32,143 with Selangor state reporting the most with over 19,000 cases alone.
In this part of Asia, some of Malaysia’s neighbors have seen dengue; however, in much smaller numbers compared to the country and compared to recent years.
Singapore’s latest tally has just eclipsed the 2,000 mark, down from over 3,000 cases during the same period; while in Jakarta, Indonesia, more than 1,000 cases have been reported to date, compared to more than 3,000 during the same period last year.
According to WHO Regional Office for Southeast Asia, Roughly 1.3 billion people living in Southeast Asia are at risk of contracting dengue. Before 2003, only eight countries in the region had reported cases. According to the WHO, in 2004 Bhutan reported its first case, in 2005 Timor-Leste, then in 2006 Nepal. North Korea is now the only country in the region free of the disease.
