Fumigation planned to fight dengue fever
JAKARTA (JP): The city administration will fumigate in 100 subdistricts with endemic populations of the carrier mosquito of dengue fever, a senior official said yesterday.
Health workers will visit the subdistricts this month and April to spray the fumigant against the aedes aegepty mosquito. Particular attention will be paid to gutters and swampy areas where the animals live and breed.
"Our 25 years of observation shows that dengue fever incidence is on the rise from May through July every year," chief of the Jakarta provincial health office Aslan Lasman said.
Official data recorded 7,800 cases of dengue fever last year, with East Jakarta accounting for the largest number with an estimated 30 percent.
Aslan said the fumigation was free of charge. He also advised city residents to take their own precautionary measures against the spread of the disease, including by maintaining the cleanliness of their surroundings.
He said residents should open doors and windows to their homes when the fumigation was in progress to allow adequate ventilation.
He also advised people to wear masks or tie handkerchiefs around their faces during the spraying to prevent inhaling excessive amounts of chemicals.
Dengue fever symptoms are often mistaken for those of typhoid because they are similar.
"Sometimes the patients' relatives, even doctors, do not realize dengue fever has been contracted until it is too late," Aslan said.
Among the subdistricts to be fumigated are Gunung Sahari Utara, Kemayoran and Serdang in North Jakarta; Cengkareng, Rawa Buaya and Slipi in West Jakarta; Tebet Barat, Melawai and Kebayoran Lama in South Jakarta; Kebon Manggis, Kayu Putih and Pulo Gadung in East Jakarta; and Cikini, Gondangdia and Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta.
Statistics released by the city administration show that the disease has been present in 90 percent of Jakarta's 265 districts over the last 30 years.
To improve awareness among East Jakarta residents, the city government has been training 400 health teachers and running an information campaign on the disease in community neighborhoods and in schools.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health predict that there will be a significant increase in cases of dengue fever in Indonesia.
Minister of Health Farid Anfasa Moeloek called on city residents yesterday to be prepared for outbreaks of dengue fever in the future.
"Observations show that a major outbreak occurs roughly every five years. This year is the 25th anniversary of the first outbreak of dengue fever in Jakarta in 1973," Moeloek said.
He added that dengue fever outbreaks can be prevented if government officials, supported by residents, do not pause in their campaign to eradicate the disease. (edt)