Problem with left/right arrow keys

The left and right arrow keys on my VisionBook MDG laptop (XP operating system) are no longer working properly. After tapping multitudinous times they will start working again. But the problem has become so bad I now use the mouse to move my cursor, even it only needs to be moved a few spaces. For some reason the machine is not immediately recognizing input from these keys. The problem is intermittent: sometimes they work just fine.

I first suspected dirt under the keys, and shot compressed air under them. But this had no effect whatsoever.

The problem does not exist in the up/down keys, nor in the backspace or delete keys, nor any other keys on the keyboard.

The machine is only a year or so old, so if the hardware is breaking down or corrosion is an issue, I would be very surprised.

I sure would appreciate it if anyone could offer me a solution to this problem.

Thank you,
Robert