Outbreak in Singapore? Dengue Fever not COVID19
There is plenty of attention given to COVID19 for the past few months. Regardless of which news platform you turn to, COVID19 seems to be on everyone's lips. There is, however, a bigger worry across the horizon and that is Dengue Fever.
Since the beginning of the year, Dengue Fever has been on the uptrend, surpassing the numbers spread during the same time period for the past years since 2017. As of Feb 15, there are already 2511 cases of Dengue Fever in Singapore with over 101 active clusters and large clusters located at various parts of Singapore.
The Clusters identified are
- Begonia Drive
- Gangsa Road
- Ang Mo Kio Ave 10
- Jurong West Street 91
- Blandford Drive
- Berwick Drive
Classification
|
Alert Level
|
High-risk area with 10 or more cases
|
RED
|
High risk area with less than 10 cases
|
Yellow
|
No new cases, under surveillance for the
next 21 days
|
Green
|
The difference clusters are given different alert status depending on the number of cases reported.
You can check the official clusters from NEA website
Since 2016, the predominant dengue virus strain has been Dengue Virus Serotype 2 (DENV-2). For this year, DENV-3 has since taken over DENV-3 strain in Jan (47% vs 39%). As Singapore, population immunity against dengue is generally low, the rise in DENV-3 is a concern since it had not been in circulation since 2016. Dengue Fever is transmitted by Aedes Mosquitoes that are identified by the black and white strips on the body and legs.
Dengue Symptoms
The following are symptoms of Dengue that one should take note of.
Sudden onset of fever from 2 to 7 days
Severe headaches with retro-orbital (behind the eye) pain
Joint and muscle pain
Skin Rash
Nausea and Vomiting
Bleeding from the nose or gums
Easy bruising of the skin
Prevention of Dengue
Source: NEA |
Disclosure
Information is sourced from NEA
Information is sourced from NEA
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