Dengue fever claims 13 lives

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Dengue fever has claimed 13 lives in the capital in the past 13 weeks, an official said on Tuesday.

Dr. Paripurna, head of the surveillance and epidemiology unit at the city health agency, said that the disease had affected some 940 people all over Jakarta.

"In this transition period (from the wet to the dry season), we should be vigilant about the possible increase in cases," he said.

Data from the health agency shows that the dengue fever cases were found in 42 districts of the capital.

High risk districts include Tanjung Priok, Kemayoran, Palmerah, Grogol Petamburan, Cilandak, and Jatinegara.

It can affect anyone, from infants to the elderly.

But most of the affected people are those between 15 and 44 years old with 532 cases, followed by people aged between five and 14 (216 cases) and those under five (114 cases). People over 45 fared the best with only 78 reported cases.

The disease, however, has not reached epidemic proportions, Paripurna said, adding that the city would declare it an emergency if the casualties reached two persons within a week.

He called upon the public participation to overcome the disease by cleaning up their environment. He also encouraged the public to use abate powder to kill the eggs of aedes aegypty mosquitoes, the carrier of the virus.

The agency, however, did not make any public campaign to inform the public about the early symptoms of the disease.

Jakarta recorded 8,814 cases in 2001, with 22 fatalities, compared to a total of 1,993 cases in 2000, with 15 deaths.

There is still no cure for the illness.

It is transmitted into human body by aedes aegypty mosquitoes, which lay their eggs on the surface of clean water.

Because of this, areas that are prone to floods are more likely to report cases of the disease.