Rain makes city more prone to dengue
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.