Dengue fever cases begin downward trend

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)