While Singapore deals with Covid-19 at the start of 2020, another public health issue has silently gone under the radar.
Dengue infection in Singapore
Dengue infections have been on the rise in the past few weeks.
A total of 1,723 cases in the first five weeks of 2020 is 60 per cent higher than the 1,057 infections diagnosed over the same period in 2019.
There are four strains of dengue fever: DenV-1, DenV-2, DenV-3 and DenV-4.
While the DenV-2 strain is still the most dominant strain, there has been a worrying outbreak of the DenV-3 strain over the past three months, a serotype that has not been dominant in the last 30 years.
As of Feb. 25, 2020, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has reported 110 dengue clusters in Singapore.
Of these, 25 are at red alert level.
Screenshot via NEA's website
What is a red alert cluster?
According to NEA, a dengue cluster is defined as an area with all of the following criteria met:
- Active transmission of dengue where measures to prevent the spread of dengue is targeted
- Two or more cases were discovered and reported within a period of 14 days
- Cases that are located within 150m of each other (applies to both residential and workplace addresses as well as where the cases have visited)
There are three dengue clusters in total, with the red ones having at least 10 cases.
- Red: 10 or more cases
- Yellow: Less than 10 cases
- Green: No new cases, under surveillance for 21 more days
25 red alert clusters in Singapore
You should definitely be more careful if you are working or residing in a red alert cluster.
The larger clusters are located at Begonia Drive, Gangsa Road, Jurong West Street 91 and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10.
Since the start of these clusters, around 100 cases have been reported in each cluster.
The top three red alert clusters have reported 51 cases in the past two weeks.
One of the clusters, the one at Jurong West Street 91, has seen 40 new cases in the past 14 days.
Denv-3 strain has been detected in these dengue clusters too.
Here's a full list of red alert clusters:
Greenwich V
- Begonia Dr, Ln, Rd, Ter, Walk / Kasai Rd / Lilac Dr, Walk / Mimosa Cres, Dr, Rd, Ter, Vale, View, Walk / Mimosa Rd (Mimosa Pk) / Nim Rd / Saraca Dr, Pl, Rd, Ter, View, Walk / Stratton Green / Tamarind Rd
Sengkang
- Rivervale Cres (Blk 157C, 158B) / Rivervale Dr (Blk 119B, 120A, 120C, 121A, 121B, 122D) / Rivervale St (Blk 134, 139) / Sengkang East Way (Blk 121C, 122A, 122B, 122C)
- Compassvale Bow (Blk 264F, 274A) / Compassvale Bow (Esparina Residences, Jewel @ Buangkok, The Quartz) / Compassvale Lk (Blk 275B, 277A, 227B, 277C, 277D) / Punggol Rd
- Compassvale Rd (Blk 257A, 257B, 258D, 259A) / Compassvale St (Blk 262A) / Sengkang East Way (Blk 260A, 260B, 260C, 260D)
Hougang
- Hougang Ave 8 (Blk 503, 504, 505, 506, 507) / Hougang Ave 10 (Blk 508, 509)
- Hougang Ave 4 (Blk 576) / Hougang Ave 8 (Blk 683) / Hougang St 52 (Blk 698C, 698D, 699) / Hougang St 61 (Blk 691, 698, 698A, 698B)
Ang Mo Kio
- Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 (Blk 428) / Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 (Blk 402, 403, 406, 407, 411, 412, 414, 416, 418, 421, 439, 441, 442, 443, 444, 449, 452, 469, 470, 471, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476) / Ang Mo Kio Ind Pk 1
- Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 (Blk 584, 585, 587) / Ang Mo Kio Ave 5 (Blk 520, 522) / Ang Mo Kio St 51 (Blk 590A, 590B, 591A) / Ang Mo Kio St 52 (Blk 588B, 588C, 596A, 596D)
- Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 (Blk 303, 304, 305, 307B, 319, 321) / Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 (Blk 301, 322, 324, 325, 327, 329)
- Ellington Sq / Jln Chengam / Jln Leban / Jln Rukam / Jln Sappan / Jln Tarum / St Nicholas View
Woodlands
- Woodlands Ave 9 (Blk 876, 878) / Woodlands St 81 / Woodlands St 81 (Blk 809, 873) / Woodlands St 82 (Blk 816-823, 839, 841, 847, 848, 874, 875, 881) / Woodlands St 83 (Blk 865, 868)
Serangoon
- Blandford Dr / Bloxhome Dr / Bodmin Dr / Borthwick Dr / Boundary Cl / Braemar Dr / Brockhampton Dr / Burghley Dr / Chartwell Dr / Chuan Dr / Conway Circle / Crowhurst Dr / Moreton Cl
- Berwick Dr/ Bloxhome Dr/ Bodmin Dr/ Borthwick Dr/ Bridport Ave/ Cowdray Ave/ Crowhurst Dr/ Farleigh Ave/ Huddington Ave/ Kensington Pk Rd/ Maju Ave/ Medway Dr/ Portchester Ave/ Sandown Pl/ S'goon Gdn Rise,Ter,Way/ Stokesay Dr
- Brighton Ave / Chepstow Cl / Ripley Cres / S'goon Gdn Way / S'goon Nth Ave 1 (Blk 127)
- Grace Pk / S'goon Ave 4 (Blk 211, 215, 218, 219, 220, 221, 223, 223A, 224, 226)
Katong and Geylang
- Cheow Keng Rd / Duku Ln / Duku Pl / Duku Rd / Duku Rd (The Lush) / Joo Chiat Rd / Lor Stangee / Lor Stangee (Chapel Lodge) / Stangee Cl / Still Rd / Tembeling Rd / Tembeling Rd (Katong Gdns)
- Guillemard Rd / Lor 26 Geylang / Lor 26 Geylang (Rezi 26) / Lor 28 Geylang / Lor 28 Geylang (La Brisa) / Lor 30 Geylang (Guillemard Edge)
Orchard
- Cairnhill Rd / Emerald Hill Rd / Hullet Rd (Hullet Rise) / Hullet Rd (Urban Suites) / Saunders Rd
Bukit Panjang
- Gangsa Rd (Blk 163, 164) / Jelebu Rd (Blk 182, 185) / Jelebu Rd (Hillion Residences) / Petir Rd (Maysprings) / Upp Bt Timah Rd (The Linear)
- Gangsa Rd (Blk 170, 172, 173) / Lompang Rd (Blk 174, 175, 176, 179, 180)
Bukit Batok
- Pavilion Circle / Pavilion Gr / Pavillion Rise / Pavilion St
- Bt Batok West Ave 2 / Bt Batok West Ave 2 (Blk 419, 421, 422, 423, 426) / Bt Batok West Ave 4 (Blk 417) / Bt Batok West St 33 (Blk 325)
- Hillview Ave (Hillington Green) / Hume Ave (Parc Palais, Summerhill, Symphony Hts)
Jurong
- Westwood Ave / Westwood Cres / Westwood Ter / Westwood Walk
- Jurong West St 91 (Blk 902, 904, 905, 907, 908, 909, 910, 911, 913, 914, 915, 916, 917, 918, 919) / Jurong West St 92 (Blk 920, 922, 923, 924, 925, 926, 928, 929, 931, 932) / Yunnan Rd
Where do mosquitoes breed?
Mosquitoes usually breed in still water collected in flower pots, trash bags and containers found at the homes. It can also breed in vegetations such as tree holes or construction sites.
Here's an example of mosquito breeding spots found in the cluster near Greenwich V:
Screenshot via NEA's website
To reduce or eliminate mosquito breeding spots, you can follow these five steps to get rid of any stagnant water at home:
Photo from NEA's website
Top photo by Zheng Zhangxin