City fear spread of dengue fever

City fear spread of dengue fever

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Head of City Health Agency, Abdul Chalik Masulili, warned people
about the alarming spread of dengue fever in the city, which has
seen at least 1,030 people infected and seven deaths in the past
two months.

Out of the fatalities, four were children under 12.

"If the trend continues, there is a possibility that another
extraordinary status will be declared," said Abdul Chalik.

During last year's "dengue season" from December to late
March, which was later declared a national disaster, there were
1,625 Jakartans infected as of January, including 82 deaths,
mostly children.

An extraordinary status can be declared if the number of
patients doubles from the previous year.

"If there is a subdistrict that has more than three dengue
cases, it will be put on alert," said Abdul Chalik. "Within 48
hours, we will fumigate in a radius of 100 meters around each
patient's house."

He added that the best way to prevent the spread of the
disease was for the public to eliminate the mosquito larvae,
which usually can be found in puddles of water or water basins.

Unlike Jakarta, Bekasi regency declared on Tuesday the dengue
outbreak an extraordinary incident, as the number of people
infected with the virus as of Jan. 31 doubled last year's figure.

An official at the Bekasi health office, Yasmi, said that the
office has recorded 70 dengue cases in two months.

"We do not necessarily have to wait until hospitals report the
cases to us ... the residents can come straight to us to report
whether there is a case in their area and we'll go there to check
and fumigate the area," he was quoted as saying by detik.com on
Tuesday.

Bekasi Hospital is currently treating 21 patients from the
worst-affected subdistricts of Bekasi Barat and Bekasi Timur.

Two of the patients died, both children.

Jakarta earlier declared six subdistricts "status red", which
means that three or more persons have contracted dengue and at
least one person has died in the last three weeks in a particular
area.

The remaining 72 subdistricts were declared yellow status,
which means one or two people have been infected with the
disease.

The six red subdistricts are Karet Tengsin in Central Jakarta,
Rawa Badak in North Jakarta, Cilandak Timur and Cilandak Barat in
South Jakarta and Cawang, Cijantung and Lubang Buaya in East
Jakarta.

All other administrations in Greater Jakarta have been
instructed to boost their campaigns to stop the spread of the
disease, by draining open tanks, cover bath basins, and bury used
cans to prevent the Aedes Aegypti mosquito from breeding.