NEA: Singaporeans More Vulnerable To ‘New’ Version Of Dengue That Appeared in 2020

According to NEA, the threat of dengue remains imminent, even as years fly by.

With how lethal technology is these days, I’m surprised that they haven’t already exterminated the entire Aedes mosquito population.

Instead, they’re doing the next best option, which is to breed a whopping five million mosquitos a week in a laboratory, infect the male aedes aegypti mosquito with the Wolbachia bacteria and let them loose to impregnate female mozzies with eggs that will not hatch.

Pretty diabolical I must say, even Mojo Jojo would be impressed. But it looks like the battle is not over.

NEA: Singaporeans More Vulnerable To ‘New’ Version Of Dengue That Appeared in 2020

Singapore is going to experience a “fresh dengue threat” this year.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has revealed that there has been a recent increase in infections stemming from a strain of the virus that hasn’t been seen in years.

The strain of the virus in question is the DENV-3 Virus which hasn’t been detected in Singapore in the past three decades. Serious stuff.

What this means for Singaporeans is that there is low immunity in the population, so people will be more susceptible to contracting it.

Most of the dengue outbreaks in Singapore are caused by two strains, DENV-1 and DENV-2, with the latter being the more dominant strain since way back in 2016.

NEA said, “We have seen an increase in Dengue virus serotype 3 (DENV-3) cases and clusters over the past month.

“As Singapore has not seen a DENV-3 outbreak in the last three decades, the population immunity for DENV-3 is low and therefore more susceptible to transmission of the virus.

“It is thus critical that all residents and stakeholders work closely together with NEA to break the dengue transmission in these clusters, and curtail the spread of the virus.”

Out of the six largest clusters in Singapore, three of them (Jalan Bangau, Cashew Road and Jalan Paras) have the DENV-3 infections.

Dengue On The Rise

The number of dengue cases has been on the rise for three weeks. Just last week, 345 people were down with dengue.

This is an alarming 50% increase compared to the number of infections seen in mid-December. Comparatively, this is the highest number of infections that are observed in January, since 2016.

“The high Aedes aegypti mosquito population in the community, current high number of dengue cases and increase in circulation of DENV-3 could lead to weekly dengue cases rising above current levels in 2020.”

Be prepared for an increase in the mosquito population as the weather gets warmer. Here are some measures you can take to fight dengue.

Dengue prevention measures

• Cover floor traps and toilet bowls
• Seal off overflow pipes of flushing cisterns
• Add sand granular insecticide to places where mosquitoes could breed and where stagnant water cannot be removed
• Clear debris or blockages in roof gutters and place insecticide
• Turn over all water containers and wipe the rims dry
• Ask a relative or friend to check your home regularly for stagnant water if you’re abroad
• Leave your contact details with your neighbours or the neighbourhood police centre so you can be easily reached