Check out the following dengue news in Malaysia:

A worker carrying out fogging in mosquito breeding areas in Kuala Lumpur. Officials say the current dengue outbreak is mainly in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, where ‘urbanisation and abandoned projects’ could provide breeding sites for Aedes mosquitoes. — PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

Jan 31, 2009 - PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is going through its worst dengue outbreak ever, health officials said yesterday, with higher rainfall and public apathy being blamed for encouraging the widespread breeding of the Aedes mosquito.

In the first 28 days of this year alone, 14 people have died and 5,062 dengue cases have been recorded. This compares with five deaths and 2,855 cases in the same period last year.

The biggest increases in the number of dengue cases were seen in Perlis, Sabah, Kelantan, Penang, Pahang, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Sarawak, Terengganu, Johor, Perak and Kedah.

For details, please view source at http://www.straitstimes.com

The Malaysian government has launched a dengue awareness campaign in response to the rising number of dengue cases.

Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said it was not the time to point fingers but to get to the ground and tackle the scourge.

Expressing concern over the situation, Health Ministry Director-General Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said the ministry was discovering more unusual symptoms in the more severe cases category.

Usually in severe dengue cases, patients would suffer from bleeding and low platelet count, he said.

However, there were cases where the brain was affected and people can come down with epileptic attack, jaundice, hepatitis and even kidney or liver failure, he said.

As a precautionary measure, the ministry had directed all doctors to add dengue testing if patients were showing high fever and unusual symptoms, especially if the patients were from areas where the incidence of dengue was high.

With the current dengue outbreak in Kuala Lumpur & Selangor, are you worry for your pregnancy & your baby?

“Housewife Fairus, 25, who was seven months pregnant with the couple’s first child, died at the Penang Hospital at 6am on Saturday due to dengue haemorrhagic fever. The foetus also did not survive. …. September 26, 2005 The Star”

Toh said she took her baby to a clinic when the child became feverish last Thursday. She added that when the fever did not go down the next day, she rushed the baby to a private hospital. “My baby was not admitted that day. Three days later, she suddenly turned blue and had difficulty breathing,” Toh said yesterday. “I took her to the same hospital again but she died a few hours later.” … November 05, 2005 The Star.

We’ll talk about more on next post regarding dengue mosquito, dengue fever symptoms, how to protect your baby from mosquitoes etc.