Dengue fever threatens city's vulnerable residents

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

In the last 10 days, two elementary school students in Semarang, Central Java, have died and a number of other children have been hospitalized as a dengue fever outbreak begins to threaten the city's most vulnerable residents.

The principal of SD Karangrejo 2 elementary school, Ruswanto, said two of his pupils had died of dengue fever and several others had been treated for the disease. In November alone, six of 528 pupils fell ill with the disease.

"I have reported the cases to the Tinjomoyo subdistrict and to the community health center, and have asked that the school be fumigated. However, I have still not received a response," Ruswanto said on Tuesday.

As more of the school's pupils have fallen ill, parents have become increasingly concerned and impatient for action.

"I demand the Semarang Health Office immediately fumigate the school to prevent other students from getting dengue fever," said one parent, Nurul.

Another parent, Yuni, who has two children at the school, was surprised at the lack of response to the problem. "Two children have died. The school must be fumigated immediately."

Dengue fever is spread through the bite of infected female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which acquire the virus by feeding on the blood of infected people. In addition to transmitting the virus to humans, the female mosquitoes can also transmit the virus to the next generation of mosquitoes through their eggs.

The parents of second grader Riana Pradipta, who died of dengue fever on Monday, are mourning a loss they can barely begin to understand.

"She (Riana) stayed home from school since last Thursday with a fever. We took her to Elisabeth hospital on Sunday but on Monday she passed away," said her father, Hermanto, a motorcycle taxi driver.

His wife, Sutami, still cannot believe that Riana, the oldest of two children, is gone. "She was a good daughter. Once when I was sick, she took care of me."

At Roemani hospital in Semarang, 21 people were being treated for dengue fever on Tuesday. So far in November, the hospital has treated 62 people for the disease. Thirty-seven people were treated for dengue at the hospital in August, 38 in September and 47 in October.

At Elisabeth hospital, 26 people were being treated for dengue fever on Tuesday.

The head of the Central Java Health Office, Budihardja, said Semarang had the highest number of dengue cases of the province's 35 municipalities and regencies. In November, the city recorded 1,340 cases of the disease, including 16 deaths.

"There have been 3,531 cases of dengue fever recorded in the province so far this year, with 80 deaths," he said.

Nationwide some 55,600 people have contracted dengue fever this year, leading to 745 deaths.

In the absence of an effective vaccine against dengue, Budihardja encouraged residents to keep their environments clean to help fight the spread of the disease by eliminating the mosquitoes' breeding grounds.

Fumigation only kills adult mosquitoes but is not effective against the larvae.