Residents must be alert for dengue

BOGOR: The Bogor Health Agency has called on residents to remain alert for dengue fever at least until August, although the peak of the current outbreak had passed.

Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on the prevention of the disease at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) on Tuesday, health agency head Triwandha Elan particularly warned Tanah Sereal residents to remain alert as the district has always had a high incidence of the disease.

Triwandha also said that what was most important was for people to prevent an outbreak by keeping their environment clean and free from aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which spread the disease, rather than fumigating after an outbreak had occurred.

Data from the agency shows that some 300 Bogor people contract dengue fever annually. During the latest outbreak, 700 people fell ill with the disease, and 13 died. -- JP