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Dengue cases have seen a drop in recent weeks, but certain localised areas are still recording sharp increases in dengue outbreaks.

In the Bukit Batok Street 31 area there were 73 cases recorded over a 55 day period, the second highest so far in nine years, according to the National Environment Agency, and one short of the largest cluster of 74 cases identified at Yishun in 2005.

Despite the cool weather, the NEA is warning that vigilance must be kept up.

According to the Head of NEA’s Environmental Health Institute, Dr Ng Lee Ching, cooler temperatures do not necessarily translate into lower cases as Singapore's weather is conducive for Dengue transmission all year round. It is therefore important to reduce the number of dengue cases when outbreaks drop.

He said: "A lull period offers us the opportunity to bring the future number of dengue cases down. It is important to suppress the mosquito population and subsequently dengue cases to as low a level as possible during the period. This will help lower the baseline from which the number of cases will build upon during future warm months."

Apart from Bukit Batok Street 31/34, the other two large dengue cluster areas are Bukit Batok Central and Bukit Batok West Avenue 6, with 18 and 12 cases reported respectively.

Large breeding habitats found in these areas include corridor scupper drains, pails, roof gutters and in one case, a fish tank.

Another cause for concern is the two-fold increase from 1,616 to 3,289 of homes found to be breeding mosquitoes and the larvae count for home breeding compared to last year.

A fine is slapped on homes, which are found to be breeding mosquitoes, and town councils for not practicing the necessary preventive measures. - CNA/vm/ac