I am writing in response to the letter titled Keeping mum over dengue danger more dangerous by Jeffrey and Adrian.

It is understandable that most people would want to know how bad the situation is. As mentioned by our Health Minister Chua Jui Meng recently, it has not become an epidemic yet.

The relevant authorities are doing their level best to contain the situation. I work with fellow colleagues who have been working round the clock to monitor the situation in the district of Temerloh in Pahang, an outbreak area.

The best offensive action against dengue is education and effective eradication of mosquito breeding grounds; not by revealing the statistics.

The ministry does not hide the information regarding to outbreak areas as this information is pertinent in battling dengue. The fact that the public knows there is an outbreak of dengue proves the effectiveness of dissemination of information.

Outbreaks occur every year. Some years worse than others. It is a viral infection which is mosquito borne. We know the type of mosquito and its breeding habits. There is obviously no effective vaccine or wonder drug at this point in time. So the best weapon we have is to destroy breeding grounds for this mosquito, Aedes aegypti.

We all know how, but are we doing the necessary? The health ministry is currently fogging outbreak areas. Visits from house to house is also being performed to eradicate mosquito breeding sites.

Pamphlets are being distributed to the public o­n what dengue is all about. Doctors are put o­n alert so that they can have a lower threshold in investigating for dengue. Dengue o­n most occasions can pass unrecognised. Some strains appear to do more damage than others. Nevertheless the battle plan remains the same - eradication of the mosquito and its breeding sites.

So my point is that, not revealing statistics does not equate to keeping mum over the dengue danger. It is about effective public health control measures, proper public relations and the co-operation of the public.

So Jeffrey and Adrian, I do hope that you could put a little trust in the relevant authorities and be assured that we, professionals, are trying our best to protect the community. We are no politicians and have nothing to hide.