Prolonged dengue outbreak at a high-rise apartment in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia: A case study

摘要

There was an increasing trend in dengue infection in Malaysia with many outbreaksthat occurred in Petaling District, Selangor in 2013 – 2014. A high rise apartment in PetalingJaya reported ten episodes of dengue outbreaks from June 2013 to June 2014. We studied theprolonged dengue hotspot at this residential complex in Petaling Jaya, Selangor and maderecommendations to prevent future prolonged dengue outbreaks. This was a retrospectiveexploratory study by analysing secondary data on dengue outbreaks from years 2013 to 2014.Small group discussions, interview sessions with staff and site visits were carried out toobtain necessary information. Two hundred and ninety-one cases were notified during thedengue outbreaks from Epid week (EW) 25 in 2013 to EW 26 in 2014 with no mortalityreported. Information entered into dengue databases might be incomplete or mixed up.Active case detection and environmental risks assessment based on cases were not carry outdue to the massive outbreak. Basic information on the population in the outbreak locality wasunavailable. Various control activities were carried out with varying outcomes. Communityparticipation was poor with little cooperation from residents during health education andcommunity-based mosquito breeding prevention activities. To ensure better management ofdengue outbreaks and to prevent prolonged dengue outbreaks in the future, integrated casefindings, effective control activities, extensive environmental assessment on the outbreaklocality and adopting innovative community outreach initiative with sufficient staff arerequired to curb dengue vector.