Two die, 129 infected in latest outbreak of dengue fever

JAKARTA (JP): Dengue fever has claimed two lives so far this year and 129 others have contracted the disease, an official of the city health agency said on Tuesday.

Lindawati, the agency's public relations officer, said people should be on alert because the number of people being infected with dengue fever was on the increase.

She cited as an example that on Feb. 10 the number of infected people was 77, but four days later it jumped to 108. On Tuesday the number reached 129.

"We should be careful because there is a possibility that the number will continue increasing. Based on past experience, outbreaks always take place in the period between March and April.

"To prevent it from spreading further, there's no other choice but to improve people's awareness to take part in the eradication of the aedes aegypti mosquito, the dengue fever carrier," she said, insisting that it was the most effective way at present.

She expressed concern over the fact that many people were unwilling to take part in the one-month eradication program which started on Jan. 28. Activities in the program include keeping houses and neighborhoods clean.

She was confident that the number of people infected with the disease would not be as big as last year's if people actively participated in the program.

Based on agency data, the greatest number of dengue fever patients as of Tuesday were found in East Jakarta with 71 people, followed by North Jakarta with 34 and Central Jakarta 10. Nine lived in South Jakarta and five in West Jakarta.

The data also classifies 100 subdistricts as dengue fever endemic areas where the infection rate has reached 70 per 100,000 people, as compared to the normal rate of only 30 per 100,000.

Thirty of the 100 endemic subdistricts are located in Central Jakarta, 22 in East Jakarta, 22 in West Jakarta, six in South Jakarta and 20 in North Jakarta.

A health official in Central Jakarta, who asked for anonymity, said local authorities would, in the near future, launch a massive free-of-charge distribution of Abate powdered pesticide to city residents to kill the mosquito's larva.

"We have received 30 boxes of the powder from the Ministry of Health," he said.

The head of City Council Commission E for social welfare, Soeparmo, urged the health agency to be on high alert against the possibility of an outbreak next month.

"They can learn from last year's shortcomings. I hope that there will no longer be complaints about a lack of Abate powder or intravenous solution (needed by dengue fever patients)," he said.

Last year's outbreak in Jakarta was said to be one of the most serious cases in recent history in which 133 deaths and 15,427 sufferers were recorded.

At that time hospitals were flooded with dengue fever patients, with many people being treated in hospital corridors.

Many hospitals were forced to turn away new patients as they could not accommodate them. (ind)