The number of dengue fever cases has dropped to 1,639 during the 40th Epidemiological Week (EW40) covering the period from Sept 29 to Oct 5, compared to 1,760 cases reported in the previous week. In a statement regarding the dengue fever situation in Malaysia today, Health director-general Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan said that three deaths due to dengue fever complications were reported in EW40. He said that the cumulative number of dengue fever cases reported up to EW40 stood at 105,149, compared to 91,910 cases for the same period in 2023. "Additionally, there have been 95 deaths due to dengue fever complications reported, compared to 67 deaths for the same period in 2023," he said. Meanwhile, he said that the number of reported hotspot localities in EW40 was 35, up from 33 in the previous week. Of the 35 reported localities, 26 were in Selangor, four in Penang, two in Negeri Sembilan, and one each in Johor, Kelantan and Sabah. Regarding chikungunya surveillance, Dr Muhammad Radzi said that tw o cases were recorded in EW40. "The cumulative number of chikungunya cases to date is 78. No chikungunya outbreaks were reported in EW40. For zika surveillance, he said that 2,081 blood samples, eight urine samples and three cerebrospinal fluid samples were screened, all of which returned negative results. Source: BERNAMA News Agency