Dengue fever cases begin downward trend

JAKARTA (JP): A predicted dengue fever outbreak peak, which was expected to happen in May or June, will unlikely be realized as number of sufferers has sharply decreased, an official said yesterday.

The City Health Office's public relations department head, Maryani, said the number of dengue fever patients in the city as of May 31 reached only 1,700, a sharp drop compared to 6,600 as of the end of April.

She said the total number of the dengue patients throughout the city so far this year was 10,700, with 83 deaths.

The fall in the number of people infected is due mainly to city residents' aggressive activities to eradicate the habitats of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the carriers of the dengue virus.

"It is also due to the end of the rainy season, when there is less flooding, which helps spread the mosquitoes' breeding," she told The Jakarta Post.

The dengue fever outbreak reached its highest level in April, when hospitals and health centers were swamped with patients.

To help prevent the spread of dengue, the city administration launched a mass movement in April to fight the disease.

Maryani said that even though the peak of the outbreak was believed not to materialize, people should remain on alert.

"We hope people won't stop the mosquitoes' habitat eradication program," she said.

Based on the Post's observations yesterday, hospitals were no longer as full with dengue fever patients as in April, when many had to be treated in hospital corridors due to limited availability of rooms.

"We treated about 20 to 25 dengue patients a day in April. But now there are only about five people a day at most," said Bambang D., a doctor at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, Central Jakarta.

An employee at state Fatmawati Hospital, South Jakarta, said the situation was back to normal, so the dengue fever alert post at the hospital was removed last week.

"The post was established to anticipate a steadily rising number of patients at the hospital. Now, however, we consider the post is no longer needed," said the employee, who asked not to be named.

A similar situation was also seen at St. Carolus Hospital, Central Jakarta. Nurse Citra D. said that in April, the number of new dengue fever patients reached dozens per day but "it's about two or three a day now." (ind)