Rain makes city more prone to dengue

Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The rainy season is here, and with the rain, comes the puddles where Aedes aegypti mosquito breed new generations of virus- carrying mosquitoes.

Already this year, some 55,600 people have contracted dengue fever in the country, 745 of whom have died. Metropolitan Jakarta recorded the highest incidence at 16,840 cases between January and October, and 74 deaths. While West Java recorded the highest deaths at 141.

Statistically, however, the incidence of dengue fever in the country this year is lower than that of last year, according to the Ministry of Health's Director of Human-Animal Transferable Diseases Hariadi Wibisono.

He said that this year the ministry had recorded 53,227 cases between January and September, compared to 73,900 cases during the same period last year.

This, however, is not a cause for celebration, because far from the disease being curtailed, the lower incidence was caused by a shift in the seasons, Hariadi said, explaining that the highest incidence of dengue fever had also shifted from March in 2004 to between May and September this year.

The rainy season will bring with it more victims of dengue fever, he warned.

"There will be more rain puddles which are an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes, so people must be more careful about dengue risks," Hariadi told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

He also warned that people should not be satisfied with the chemical fogging program by the Jakarta Health Agency that is currently underway, as the method only eliminates adult mosquitoes.

Dengue is spread through the bite of an infected female Aedes aegypti mosquito that had previously acquired the virus after feeding on the blood of an infected person. Besides being capable of transmitting the virus to humans for the rest of her life, the female mosquito can also transmit the virus to the next generation of mosquitoes through her eggs.

Chemical fogging only serves to kill the adult disease-bearing mosquitoes and prevent them from transmitting the virus to other people, Hariadi explained, adding that fogging was only effective during the first two weeks, after which infected larvae would hatch to become new sources of disease.

As there is currently no effective vaccine against dengue, "eliminating wrigglers and destroying mosquito breeding sites are still the best measures to control dengue," he said, adding that for this to be successful community awareness was the key.

Residents should regularly drain open receptacles, cover bathing tanks, and bury used cans to prevent the mosquitoes from breeding in still water.

Although the highest incidence of dengue fever occurs in the heavily populated, poorer areas of the city, the well-to-do are also not exempt, as the case of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri shows.

"Of course dengue fever does not choose its victims," Hariadi said, highlighting the need for all levels of society to come together and maintain the cleanliness of their environment.

"Because even if your house is clean, but the area 100 meters from your house is not, you can still catch dengue fever," he warned.