KUALA TERENGGANU, June 28 — Terengganu Health Department has recorded an upward trend in communicable disease cases reported in the state since last year.   Its director, Dr Mohammad Omar said cases involving diseases such as measles, pertussis (whooping cough) and Hepatitis B had increased, and were seen to have connection with the surge of parents who refused to have their children vaccinated.   He said Terengganu had recorded 156 cases for Hepatitis B last year, an increase of more than 100 per cent compared to 66 cases in 2013.

“Same goes with pertussis, a total of 104 cases were reported in 2005 compared to only 29 cases in 2013. As for measles, 38 cases were recorded throughout the state as of May (this year) compared to only 17 cases in 2013.

“The rise in these communicable diseases (cases) corresponds with the current trend of parents who refused to have their children vaccinated, whereas this should not have happened because they did not receive the right information,” he told a press conference after launching the ‘Balik Kampung Without Dengue’ campaign at Kuala Terengganu Bus Terminal here today.

The department also worried that if such a trend continued to take place, cases of parents refusing to have their children vaccinated would increase to between 300 and 400 cases given that 120 of such cases were recorded until March this year.

Commenting further, he said in 2013, there were only 42 cases of parents who declined vaccinations for their children but it went up to 192 cases in 2014 and 188 cases last year.

“Therefore, the department will go to the ground and explain to these parents with the right information so that they will have the right understanding on vaccination.   “We will also step up campaign on vaccination through talks, posters and the mass media so that the number of this anti-vaccine group can be reduced in future,” he said.

On June 18, a seven-year-old girl died of diphtheria in Melaka and a two-year-old boy in Kedah passed away due to the same disease.   According to the Health Ministry, the two victims did not receive comprehensive vaccination. — Bernama