Dengue spreads fast, 14 die in two months

Abdul Khalik The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

At least 14 people have died and around 1,000 others fallen sick from dengue fever in Jakarta, Bekasi, Tangerang, and Depok since December last year, prompting health officials to warn that the disease would continue to spread rapidly.

The Jakarta Health Agency announced Monday that in the capital alone seven people had died of dengue fever, while 903 others had contracted the disease, up from only 428 in early January.

Agency's spokeswoman Evy Zelfino said that up until the first two weeks of January, two persons had died.

"Up to last week four persons had died and around 700 people had contracted dengue. But now we have a total of seven people dead and 903 others who have contracted the disease. We have warned the public that the disease will spread fast in their areas unless they take precautionary measures," Evy told The Jakarta Post.

She said that six subdistricts -- up from three two weeks ago -- had been declared "status red" while around 70 others were condition yellow.

Red status 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, while yellow status 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.

In Depok, four persons have died from dengue fever, while the number of people who have contracted the disease has jumped to 27 from only two at the beginning of the month.

The number of people contracting dengue has also increased in Tangerang and Bekasi. The number of dengue cases in Tangerang jumped from six in December to 13 in January, while in Bekasi over 30 people have contracted the disease, three of whom have died.

Evy said that the only way to stop the spread of the disease was to drain open tanks, cover bathing tanks, and bury used cans to prevent the Aedes aegypty mosquito from breeding.

Evy warned that the number of dengue cases could increase in February because the rainy season still has some months to run.

Dengue fever is transmitted by the Aedes aegypty mosquito, which is active during daylight hours and can be identified by the black and white stripes on their legs. The mosquito breeds in still, clean water.

Symptoms of dengue include fever of more than 38 degrees Celsius that lasts two to seven days, headaches, severe joint pain, nausea and skin rash.

The incubation period for the disease is between eight and 10 days for adults, and six days for children. There is no vaccine or chemical prophylaxis available against dengue.

The Jakarta administration recorded 18,000 cases of dengue fever last year, including 82 deaths, mostly children. The highest number of cases occurred in February and March, in which over 5,000 people fell victim to the disease.

The agency's data shows that cases of dengue fever in the Greater Jakarta area hit highs of 15,360 in 1998, 3,998 in 1999, 8,729 in 2000, 8,820 in 2001, 5,750 in 2002, and 14,071 in 2003.