Expats have mixed views on dengue fumigation

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."