Public warned of dengue outbreak

The local health authority has warned the public to remain vigilant over a possible outbreak of the deadly dengue fever.

Outbreaks of the disease usually occur during particularly heavy rainy seasons.

In 2010, dengue fever cases soared to more than 12,000 cases, causing the death of 34 people.

“Rainy seasons often trigger a spike in the number of dengue fever cases. In 2010 we had to declare an outbreak because reported cases had reached 12,500,” Bali Health Agency head I Nyoman Sutedja recalled.

“We are asking the public to pay attention to puddles formed after the rain because those will provide perfect breeding grounds for the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the primary vector of dengue. The puddles should be drained immediately,” he stressed, adding that dengue fever patients had begun to show up at local hospitals.

Sanglah Central Hospital, the largest medical facility on the island, reported that from the beginning of this month up until Wednesday of this week, as many as 29 people with dengue symptoms had been admitted. Five of them were children.

Data from Denpasar’s Wangaya Hospital showed that the number of people admitted with dengue symptoms had steadily increased.

In November last year, 18 dengue patients were treated at the hospital. The number rose to 28 in December, while this year so far the number of cases has reached five.

“Usually the number of dengue patients will reach its peak in the middle of the year,” hospital official Sri Murcitowati said, adding that Wangaya will increase its bed capacity from the current 175 beds to 200 to anticipate an outbreak.

This year’s rainy season is predicted to be similar to the one in 2010, which was characterized by days of heavy downpours and longer-than-usual wet periods.

In 2011, when the resort island suffered from an extended drought, the reported dengue cases dropped sharply to 2,800, a whopping 70 percent decrease compared to the number recorded in 2010. The number of fatalities in 2011 also fell significantly, to four.

“Last year’s decrease in reported dengue cases was also caused by the improved effectiveness of the Jumantik,” he said, referring to hired workers assigned to conduct house-to-house searches for mosquito larvae.

I Kadek Apriana, one of East Denpasar’s Jumantik officers, said that mosquito larvae were often found in the construction sites of new housing complexes.

“As people have not yet moved into the new houses, nobody pays any attention to the existing puddles,” he said.