JEDDAH, 22 February 2006 — The four deaths that were reported in the Kingdom due to dengue fever over the last two months have raised alarm among health officials.

“The number of deaths is high considering the time frame and the fact that dengue is rarely fatal. This requires us to research the causes in order to prevent further deaths,” Yaqoub Al-Mazrou, deputy minister of health for preventive medicine, said yesterday.

In 2004 there were 291 cases and two fatalities. In 2005 there were 305 cases without deaths. In the first two months of 2006 there were 143 cases and four deaths, he said. Health officials have stepped up efforts to combat dengue.

Al-Mazrou, was speaking at a joint press conference at the municipality building in downtown Jeddah with Mayor Adel Faqeeh and Yaser Al-Ghamdi, director of health affairs in Makkah Region.

Al-Ghamdi said that there are no vaccines for the disease and preventive measures are the only way to combat it. “It is not a deadly disease, and it rarely lasts for more than seven days,” he pointed out.

He noted that dengue is a seasonal disease that increases during winter when still water is not as likely to evaporate quickly. The most dangerous places for dengue is anywhere near the still water where the mosquitoes breed, such as puddles at construction sites.

The government, he said, is making use of the Singapore experience on combating the disease. They are buying 300 Ovi Traps from Singapore.

Al-Ghamdi noted that in 2005 there were 300 reported cases in the Kingdom, compared to 15,000 cases in Singapore. “The Singapore experience proved its success (in reducing the number of dengue deaths) and we are confident it would be helpful to us as well,” he said

Mayor Faqeeh noted that the city has located 150 large still water sites around Jeddah and that most of them were dried or filled.

“The rest of the sites would be dealt with over the next two weeks,” he said

The municipality, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, has started a public-awareness campaign. The mayor said that the current SR5 million annual budget for the campaign is expected to increase to SR20 million.

So far they have distributed two million pamphlets and awareness booklets about the disease in addition to sending SMS messages, he said.

Al-Mazrou noted that the disease was first registered in the Kingdom in 1994, when more than 400 cases were reported.

“Through collaborative work we managed to eliminate it within 12 months,” he said, adding that they are confident they can fight it now in a less time.