<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>SPREAD OF CHIKUNGUNYA
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Disease to be made notifiable soon: MOH
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Doctors must notify Health Ministry of any case within 24 hours or face jail/fine </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Salma Khalik, Health Correspondent
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE spread of chikungunya here is now severe enough for the authorities to take the fight against it one step further and make it a 'notifiable disease'.
The move will be made soon, a Health Ministry spokesman told The Straits Times.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story -->RELATED LINKS
<!-- Audio --><!-- Video --><!-- PDF -->
WORRYING NUMBERS
<!-- Photo Gallery -->
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Making a disease 'notifiable' means that once doctors come across a case, they must inform the Ministry of Health (MOH) within 24 hours. Doing this allows the health authorities to track cases, know when an outbreak is imminent and to take measures to contain its spread.
Among the diseases currently in this category are HIV/Aids; hand, foot and mouth disease; and dengue fever.
If a doctor fails to notify the ministry of a disease in this category within the stipulated time limit, he can be jailed up to six months, and/or fined a maximum of $10,000.
Though doctors had been told since last December to inform the ministry of any chikungunya cases they treat, there was no legal obligation or time limit for them to do so.
The latest move has been prompted by two factors: Sharp rises in the number of cases over the past three months, and the fact that there are many more locally transmitted cases now.
So far this year, there have been 263 cases, with 143, or more than half, transmitted locally. Last year, there were only 10 cases, all caught abroad.
Singapore saw its first case of chikungunya, a mosquito-borne disease, in 2006. But until this year, all the victims had contracted the disease overseas.
Another worrying factor is the trend over the past few months. The number of cases being reported began rising in July, and peaked at 41 cases a week in early August. Since then, the numbers have remained relatively high, with about 20 new cases a week.
Despite these signs, the Health Ministry and the National Environment Agency (NEA) say that chikungunya, a dengue- like disease that causes joint aches, chills, nausea, vomiting, rashes and fever in victims, is not yet endemic here.
This is because there are still many cases imported from Johor, which has seen over 1,000 cases this year, they explain.
Meanwhile, NEA is also checking the genetic fingerprint of the virus to determine if it is imported.
If the virus is unique to Singapore, then it 'would suggest extensive local transmission', its spokesman said. She said, however, that there is no evidence of this yet.
The spokesman added that NEA is maintaining aggressive control of mosquito breeding in areas prone to dengue or chikungunya.
The Blood Bank has also sprung into action. It has asked chikungunya patients, as well as those suspected of having it, not to donate. It has also gone one step further than it does with dengue: It is asking people who have been to places where chikungunya is endemic, such as Johor, to wait two weeks before donating blood.
This is because symptoms, which usually appear three to seven days after a person is bitten by carrier mosquito, could sometimes take up to 12 days to do so.
As a result, more than 300 people have been told to hold off donating blood. [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Disease to be made notifiable soon: MOH
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Doctors must notify Health Ministry of any case within 24 hours or face jail/fine </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Salma Khalik, Health Correspondent
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE spread of chikungunya here is now severe enough for the authorities to take the fight against it one step further and make it a 'notifiable disease'.
The move will be made soon, a Health Ministry spokesman told The Straits Times.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story -->RELATED LINKS
<!-- Audio --><!-- Video --><!-- PDF -->
<!-- Photo Gallery -->
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Making a disease 'notifiable' means that once doctors come across a case, they must inform the Ministry of Health (MOH) within 24 hours. Doing this allows the health authorities to track cases, know when an outbreak is imminent and to take measures to contain its spread.
Among the diseases currently in this category are HIV/Aids; hand, foot and mouth disease; and dengue fever.
If a doctor fails to notify the ministry of a disease in this category within the stipulated time limit, he can be jailed up to six months, and/or fined a maximum of $10,000.
Though doctors had been told since last December to inform the ministry of any chikungunya cases they treat, there was no legal obligation or time limit for them to do so.
The latest move has been prompted by two factors: Sharp rises in the number of cases over the past three months, and the fact that there are many more locally transmitted cases now.
So far this year, there have been 263 cases, with 143, or more than half, transmitted locally. Last year, there were only 10 cases, all caught abroad.
Singapore saw its first case of chikungunya, a mosquito-borne disease, in 2006. But until this year, all the victims had contracted the disease overseas.
Another worrying factor is the trend over the past few months. The number of cases being reported began rising in July, and peaked at 41 cases a week in early August. Since then, the numbers have remained relatively high, with about 20 new cases a week.
Despite these signs, the Health Ministry and the National Environment Agency (NEA) say that chikungunya, a dengue- like disease that causes joint aches, chills, nausea, vomiting, rashes and fever in victims, is not yet endemic here.
This is because there are still many cases imported from Johor, which has seen over 1,000 cases this year, they explain.
Meanwhile, NEA is also checking the genetic fingerprint of the virus to determine if it is imported.
If the virus is unique to Singapore, then it 'would suggest extensive local transmission', its spokesman said. She said, however, that there is no evidence of this yet.
The spokesman added that NEA is maintaining aggressive control of mosquito breeding in areas prone to dengue or chikungunya.
The Blood Bank has also sprung into action. It has asked chikungunya patients, as well as those suspected of having it, not to donate. It has also gone one step further than it does with dengue: It is asking people who have been to places where chikungunya is endemic, such as Johor, to wait two weeks before donating blood.
This is because symptoms, which usually appear three to seven days after a person is bitten by carrier mosquito, could sometimes take up to 12 days to do so.
As a result, more than 300 people have been told to hold off donating blood. [email protected]
