Weekly dengue cases continue to fall in Singapore

A total of 306 new cases of dengue infections were reported in Singapore last week ended on Saturday, representing the fifth straight fall since its peak of 842 cases per week, the city-state's National Environment Agency updated on Monday. It was compared with the previous report of 391 during the week ended on July 20. There were 27 new cases of dengue on Monday, bringing the total number of cases so far this year to 13,715. Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said on Facebook that most of the clusters are slowing down with dengue. "We are not fully out of danger yet as this is still peak season, but we should be OK if we can keep improving," he added. There are four cases of deaths until now in Singapore, though the total dengue cases are far more than what has been reported in the same period time over recent years. Singapore had the worst dengue epidemic in 2005, when about 14, 000 people were infected, with 25 deaths. Dengue fever is an illness caused by infection with a virus transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, with the symptoms including fever, fatigue as well as joint and muscle pains.