SUBANG Jaya residents should not be complacent with the lower number of dengue cases being recorded there and they need to continue with efforts to keep their surroundings clean, the local council said.
This is because the vector-borne disease may rise again in view of the current warm weather and intermittent rainfall.
According to Subang Jaya Municipal Council’s (MPSJ) figures recorded from January to Aug 12, the total number of dengue cases stands at 3,992.
MPSJ public relations senior assistant director Asfarizal Abdul Rashid said this was a 40% drop from the same period last year.
There were 8,608 cases recorded in the whole municipality for the entire 2016.
While the general drop in cases so far is welcome, a pocket of Subang Jaya faces the bad news of having just been declared a hotspot.
Subang Jaya assemblyman Hannah Yeoh said SS19/6 recorded 11 dengue cases in a week, involving Jalan 19/6A, 6B, 6C, 6F, 6G, 6H, and 6M.
She said this after a search-and-destroy walkabout with councillor Ken Chia, MPSJ representatives, the dengue squad, state Health Department and the police.
Nor Najihah (left) discussing a point with Mohd Azrin Abd Aziz on the DPS programme.
“The back lanes were okay but we noticed on the streets in front that there were bottles and recyclable waste,” said Yeoh.
She added that the search-and-destroy activity was the way to root out dengue at the source and urged the public to spend time checking the premises of their homes for potential mosquito-breeding spots and destroy them.
Asfarizal said that regardless commercial or residential areas, the public must keep their surroundings clean.
Property owners are reminded to remove mosquito breeding grounds, which is stagnant water, from inside their premises as well as outside.
Asfarizal said that to strengthen the efforts for better vigilance, MPSJ set up a Dengue Prevention Squad (DPS) under the Sekolah Sejahtera programme where students were taught methods to identify and eliminate mosquitoes’ breeding grounds.
MPSJ public relations assistant director Nor Najihah Sukor said students from 53 schools in Subang Jaya would participate in the DPS programme at Sunway Lagoon in Bandar Sunway.
“We will have four students and one teacher from each school to go through the DPS programme where dengue kits will be distributed. The kit consists of an aerosol can, sachets of Abate, insect repellent and a pipette (a slender tube for drawing out a small quantity of liquid) to check for larvae,” she said.
The council’s administration assistant officer Mohd Azrin Abd Aziz said the DPS programme was a collaboration with the Selangor Education Department, Petaling District Health Department, the schools and MPSJ.
“We want to see a concerted effort by all to bring about change for better control and eliminate dengue breeding grounds to stem the disease,” he said.
Asfarizal emphasised that community-led efforts were important in helping to reduce the mosquito population.
“DPS, which focuses on source eradication of potential mosquito-breeding habitats and indoor spraying of insecticides where adult mosquitoes are detected, remains the key to dengue prevention,” he reiterated.
“All it takes is a spoonful of water for the mosquitoes to breed,” said Yeoh.
“People still think fogging is the solution but it is bad for children and people with asthma.
“If you are going out in the morning or evening, be sure to use insect repellent,” she added.
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