Singapore dengue cases hit new high,fear of epidemic

SINGAPORE, May 30 (Reuters) The number of people infected with dengue in a single week in Singapore has risen to the year's highest level, stoking fears of an epidemic, a newspaper said today.

A total of 259 dengue cases were reported last week, the Strait Times said, the highest number of cases this year, and breaching the ''warning level'' of 256 to 378 cases set by the Health Ministry.

Epidemic levels are reached when more than 378 cases are reported in a week, the paper said, adding health officials were worried that an epidemic may be on its way in the city-state. A dengue epidemic hit Singapore in 2005, when 714 cases were reported in a single week, the Straits Times said.

Dengue is endemic in several countries in the region including Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar.

The virus, transmitted by the female Aedes aegypti mosquito, spreads across borders when infected travellers are bitten by local mosquitoes that go on to bite someone else.

There are no vaccines for dengue, which has flu-like symptoms such as fever and pain in the joints, and can be fatal.

REUTERS CS SBA PM0804