Effectiveness of fumigation questioned<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): City residents complained yesterday that
\nfumigation efforts to fight the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, the
\ncarrier of the dengue fever virus, were largely ineffective.<\/p>\n
The city health office announced yesterday that the number of
\ndengue fever patients in Jakarta totaled 4,980 as of yesterday
\nafternoon.<\/p>\n
The outbreak's death toll currently numbers 50, it said.<\/p>\n
Central Jakarta's Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital alone
\nhas reported 15 deaths from the fever in the period between April
\n9 and April 21.<\/p>\n
The city is fumigating a number of areas in an attempt to
\nblunt the quickening increase in dengue fever cases.<\/p>\n
Residents of Menteng in Central Jakarta said, however, they
\nwere alarmed to see live mosquitoes only two hours after the city
\nhad fumigated the area.<\/p>\n
\"If there is nothing special in the spray to kill mosquitoes,
\nthen I regret that we all had to pay Rp 1,000 each for it,\" said
\nTati, 38, the grandmother of a dengue fever sufferer.<\/p>\n
\"Even ants and cockroaches were still alive after the
\nfumigation,\" she added.<\/p>\n
Soeparmo, head of the City Council Commission E for social
\nwelfare, expressed concern yesterday that residents had wrong
\nperceptions about the fumigations.<\/p>\n
He said many people believed that the fumigations would
\ntotally eradicate the Aedes Aegypti mosquito and thus rid them
\nfrom the virus.<\/p>\n
\"They think that they can sleep easy because all mosquitoes
\nare killed in a fumigation. They also think that there would be
\nno way that they could get infected by the fever after their
\nneighborhood is fumigated,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Well, we've got bad news for them. All those assumptions are
\nwrong. Fumigations are certainly not that effective because they
\ncan't kill larva and embryos. So don't overly depend on it,\" said
\nSoeparmo.<\/p>\n
The head of the Menteng public health center, Paris Sibuea,
\nshared Soeparmo's view, saying that it was important for
\nresidents to actively participate in the effort to eradicate the
\nmosquitoes' habitat.<\/p>\n
\"The fumigations have no meaning if they're not followed by
\npeople's active participation. It only kills mature mosquitoes
\nand has temporary effects,\" he said.<\/p>\n
A massive campaign to clean up areas where mosquitoes breed is
\nscheduled for Sunday, March 26. All residents from the city's
\nfive mayoralties are asked to participate.<\/p>\n
Soeparmo also asked people to be patient if they wanted to
\nhave their areas fumigated because the city lacked the needed
\nequipment. He said each district had only two sprayers each to
\ncarry out fumigations.<\/p>\n
He also reiterated that dengue fever did not only affect slum
\nareas as believed by some people.<\/p>\n
Maryani, the public relations chief of the city's health
\noffice, said a survey conducted late last month indicated that 11
\nout of 34 hospitals examined contained sites where mosquitoes
\ncould easily breed.<\/p>\n
\"But it did not say whether the larva and embryos were of the
\nAedes Aegypti species,\" she said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Maryani said that school buildings, especially restrooms, were
\nalso potential habitat for mosquitoes.<\/p>\n
Soeparmo said the regular cleansing of water tanks, flower
\nvases, buckets and other areas where water collected was the most
\nimportant and effective method to break the mosquitoes' life
\nchain. (ivy\/ind\/cst)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/effectiveness-of-fumigation-questioned-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}