Expats have mixed views on dengue fumigation

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Expatriates living in Jakarta have different views on the effectiveness of fumigation in preventing dengue fever outbreaks.

Dr. Wright of the U.S. Embassy Medical Unit said that the embassy has also appealed to their expatriate staff, who mostly live in endemic areas, such as Menteng, Central Jakarta, and Tebet and Cilandak in South Jakarta, to always cover water containers and empty unused containers that can hold water.

Dengue fever is carried by the aedes aegypti mosquito which lays its eggs in clear, standing water. The mosquito, which has easily recognizable stripes on its legs, bites mostly during daylight hours.

"We told them to wear long sleeves and avoid going out during the day time, when the aedes aegypti mosquito usually come out," Dr. Wright added. "Other preventive action, like fumigation, is not really effective."

He also said that only three or four expatriate members of the embassy staff had contracted dengue fever this year. In the 2003 outbreak, 10 Americans were infected with the disease. No deaths were recorded.

Mark Winkel, an American working for a public relations firm and living in Tebet, South Jakarta, who contracted dengue and was hospitalized at Pondok Indah Hospital, South Jakarta, also views fumigation, a major element of the Jakarta administration's yearly battle against the disease, as ineffective. He thinks that the best way to prevent dengue from spreading is to eliminate the mosquito's breeding ground.

"There have been fumigations in my neighborhood," he explained. "It doesn't guarantee permanent results."

"I don't think the fumigation is really effective. The mosquitoes breed quickly. In just a few days after the fumigation, the mosquitoes can appear again," Mark, , who has been living in Jakarta for 10 years told The Jakarta Post.

Korean Press Attache Kim Sang Sool said Koreans living in Jakarta were aware of the dengue outbreaks "from watching TV and reading Indonesian newspapers".

The Korean Embassy also disseminates information through a Korean community group on how to prevent the disease.

According to Kim, Korean people, who mostly live in apartments all over the city, take preventive actions and fumigate in and outside their apartments.

"Until now I haven't heard of any Korean contracting the disease," said Kim.

British Press Attache Faye Belnis said that she was not aware of any incidence of dengue fever among the British community in Jakarta this year.

She explained that the British Embassy had fumigated the area around the embassy offices. "We took the initiative to fumigate the embassy. We have not been approached by city officials," she said.

Governor Sutiyoso previously complained that many embassies and even state offices had refused to allow fumigation of their premises.

More than 1,900 cases of dengue fever have been reported in Jakarta, with 18 deaths, all Indonesians, recorded to date since the beginning of January.

According to Dr. Wright, expatriate residents usually do not live in the country long enough to contract dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), the most deadly from of the disease.

"Americans are likely to have milder infections than the Indonesians. They rarely get infected with dengue hemorrhagic fever," Dr. Wright said.

According to Dr. Wright, initial infections of dengue are more likely to cause milder symptoms. People who are reinfected for a second or third time, are more likely to develop DHF.

"The cases among Americans were not so overwhelming. The patients stayed at the clinic around five days. But mostly they were being treated at home, where the clinic only provided them with fluids. If they got much worse, we would send the patient to be hospitalized in Singapore."