Weekly dengue cases have fallen 70% since peak in May, but NEA calls for vigilance even as numbers drop

Singapore — weekly Dengue fever Cases in Singapore have fallen by about 70% since peaking in May of this year, but residents must remain vigilant to prevent a second surge in dengue fever. National Environment Agency (NEA) Said.

In a statement Monday, it added that 95% of dengue fever clusters reported since the beginning of the year have either been closed or are no longer active.

The NEA said 427 dengue cases were reported last week, 46 fewer than the previous week. This is the further decline since the end of last month. Weekly cases fell below 600.

As of last Friday, 142 dengue clusters had been reported, down by 6 clusters from the previous week’s 148.

Clusters along Ghim Moh Road, Bedok Reservoir Road and Clement Road have been closed in the past three weeks, according to the NEA.

“Overall, we have closed about 95% of the dengue clusters notified since the beginning of the year, or 2,563 out of 2,705.”

However, we continue to observe clusters of ‘relatively fast infection rates’ such as Clementi West Street 2, Jurong East Street 21, Jurong West Avenue 5, along Rivervale Crescent in Sengkang.

As of last Friday, more than 28,500 dengue cases have been reported here this year.

Dengue cases began to rise in February, prompting the NEA to promote a nationwide dengue prevention campaign.

This includes installing new dengue warning banners and maintaining “fast-paced preventive inspections to clear breeding habitat,” it said.

The Interagency Dengue Task Force conducted 200,000 tests in the first half of this year, in addition to the 409,000 conducted by the NEA.

To complement its dengue control efforts, the NEA began releasing male Wolbachia aedes aegypti at eight additional field sites since July.

Project Wolbachia Update

Baey Yam Keng told reporters at a press conference. Wolbachia mosquito A release session held in McPherson on Monday urged the public to “keep on our toes to do our part” as many active dengue clusters still remain despite a decline in case numbers. I got

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Environment helped introduce Wolbachia-infected male mosquitoes to selected locations in Singapore under an ongoing initiative by the NEA and other stakeholders.

Male Wolbachia aedes aegypti, which do not sting, are released into the neighborhood to breed with local females. Eggs produced by that pairing do not hatch, thereby reducing Aedes reproduction.

In July, the Wolbachia project was expanded to eight new districts, including Geylang. The new expansion added 1,400 Housing Development Board (HDB) blocks to the project, covering about 31% of all HDB blocks in Singapore, NEA added.

Baey said residents will notice an increase in mosquitoes in these areas, but they will get used to it over time.

As residents see the dengue cluster alert change from red to green, “they really see the consequences of all these mosquitoes and the ground buy-in and support slowly picks up[from there],” he added. I was. Dengue cluster warnings are displayed on banners placed in areas such as red for high-risk areas and green for no new cases.

Baey thanked the grassroots advisors and leaders who helped explain the project to residents so that more people could understand and support it.

At present, the NEA has said it has no plans to expand the project further.

Alert “Critical”

Even though Singapore is “moving past its traditional dengue peak season,” the NEA said, “With weekly dengue cases and Aedes aegypti populations remaining high, continued vigilance remains critical. There is,’ he said.

Weekly dengue cases could remain high well past the peak of the dengue season, which runs from June to October, as “dengue transmission is still present in many areas across the island,” he said. added.

These include large dengue clusters located along Boon Lay Avenue, Arzoo Avenue near Cobang, Hogan Avenue 1, Jelapan Road in Bukit Panjang, Bishan Street 11 and Marine Crescent on the east coast.

Reduce dengue fever by taking precautions to avoid mosquito bites, such as applying insect repellent regularly, and turning buckets over or changing the water in vases to reduce breeding grounds for insects I urged the public to contribute to this.