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)