A review of dengue fever incidence in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia during the years 1998-2003

Dengue is the most common and widespread arthropod borne arboviral infection in the world today. It is estimated that there are at least 100 million cases of dengue fever (DF) annually and 500,000 cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) which require hospitalization. In Malaysia, it has become a major public health problem. Malaysia recorded 19,544 dengue cases in 1997, the highest recorded since the disease was made notifiable in the country. Of 19,544 cases, 806 were DHF with 50 deaths. The objectives of this analysis were to describe the incidence of dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia for the years 1998-2003 and to explore the characteristics of dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia for years 1998-2003. A total of 4,716 dengue cases were notified involving 4,476 (94.9%) DF and 240 (5.1%) DHF cases, which increased though the years. The highest incidence was in January (701 or 14.9%), while the lowest was in May (188 or 4.0%). Forty percent of cases (n=1,890) were in the 15-29 year old group. The Majority were Malays (4,062 or 86.1%) and 2,602 or 55.2% were male. A total of 4,477 cases (95%) were local cases and 4,289 or 91% came from the urban area. For priority areas, 3,772 (80%) were from priority 1. More than half the cases had positive serology results. All symptoms occurred in more than 96% of cases and fever was the commonest (99.7%). The mean values for age, temperature, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) were 27.8 +/- 15.4 years, 37.9 +/- 0.90 degrees C, 115 +/- 15.2 mmHg and 73 +/- 11.1 mmHg, respectively. The mean value for the time interval between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis, onset of symptoms and notification and time of diagnosis to notification were 5.1 +/- 2.3, 5.9 +/- 2.5 and 0.8 +/- 1.1 days, respectively. There were associations between the types of dengue and classification, area and priority area. Among the symptoms, the association was only seen in joint pain. The mean significant differences between DF and DHF were found in age and systolic blood pressure. The incidence of dengue in Kota Bharu is comparable to that in Malaysia. The increase in the number of cases needs to be addressed promptly with effective surveillance, prevention and control programs.