“You should see a doctor as soon as you experience symptoms of dengue. Gone is the fallacy that you can only get a diagnosis after a few days.

“Dengue can largely be diagnosed even on the first day of falling ill,” said Dr Koh Kar Chai, DPAM’s public education lead, ahead of World Dengue Day tomorrow.

In a statement today, Koh said dengue was an ever-present global scourge which placed a heavy burden on public health systems.

“Productivity of people affected by dengue is reduced by the need to take medical leave or to take care of other infected members of the family. The after-effects from severe dengue also exact a toll, both physically and mentally,” he said.

And despite a low fatality rate of 0.2%, Malaysia still experiences spikes in the number of cases, he said.

“Globally, there is an aim to achieve zero dengue deaths and a 25% reduction in cases by 2030.

“In Malaysia, from 2022 to 2026, we have aimed to reduce cases by 5% annually and to keep the mortality rate below 0.2%.

“All this can only be achieved by a whole of government and society approach,” he said.