Mass fumigations in all mayoralties to fight dengue
Mass fumigations in all mayoralties to fight dengue
JAKARTA (JP): The Municipal Health Office will carry out a
free simultaneous mass fumigation in Jakarta's five mayoralties
in November to prevent the spread of hemorrhagic dengue fever.
Dr. Soeharto Wirjowidagdo, head of the municipal health
office, said yesterday that around 150 subdistricts in 27
districts will be targeted because the office has found that the
highest incidence of the fever was discovered in the areas.
Suara Pembaruan daily reported on Aug. 18 that some districts
such as Grogol, Petamburan and Palmerah, both in Central Jakarta,
are the most susceptible areas to the fever.
Soeharto said that nearly 55 percent of the cases reported
this year originated from Central and East Jakarta mayoralties.
According to Soeharto, the office has allocated Rp 66 million
(US$30,386) to finance the mass fumigation in Jakarta for 1994.
The fever was first detected in Jakarta in 1968 and has a
tendency to peak every five years. The disease has been on the
rise, with the number of peak sufferers frequently doubling from
the previous five years.
In 1983, the fifth year in the third cycle, the number of
sufferers reached 3,100 with 70 deaths, around twice the previous
cycle with a total of 1,615 sufferers and 37 dead.
In 1988, the next five-year cycle, the number of sufferers
increased to 10,647 with 111 deaths. This number nearly tripled
in 1987 with the total of 3,845 sufferers.
In anticipation of the next cycle, in 1993, the health office
together with municipal authorities took extensive measures to
curb the spread of the disease. Their efforts were successful in
keeping the number of victims to one-fifth of the total in 1988.
Rise
According to Soeharto, despite the successful war against the
hemorrhagic fever, the number of sufferers in Jakarta this year
is expected to rise. The estimated number of people plagued by
the fever in the city this year will reach between 2,900 and
3,000.
The office recorded that 2,092 people have been infected with
the disease and 26 have died in the past eight months, while the
fever infected 2,263 people and killed 19 last year.
Soeharto said that a sanitized environment is the most
important factor for preventing hemmorhagic dengue fever because
the disease can only be averted if the community continues to
raise its awareness of a clean and healthy environment.
"The disease would completely vanish if the people's lifestyle
became more health-minded," he said.
He said that the office's efforts to prevent the spread of the
fever will be augmented by private pest control companies which
will charge around Rp 60,000 (US$27.62) for fumigation per
hectare.
Soeharto said that fumigation is not the only effort to curb
the fever. He said that the office will perform repeated public
presentations about the danger of the disease, and improve
hospital treatment services.
The disease is transmitted through the bite of aedes aegypti
mosquito which lay their eggs in exposed surfaces of clean water.
The virus-carrying mosquito can be found near areas inhabited
by people near exposed, stagnant bodies of water. During mating
season, the female mosquito needs protein from human blood to
help lay eggs.(03)