Dengue claims 10 lives in Lampung, five in NTT

Ten people have died following an outbreak of dengue fever in Lampung during the past few weeks.

The disease was reported to have affected 950 people while the most recent death was a pregnant woman on Monday night.

“This is a five-year cycle. Five years ago the disease killed 11 people. The Lampung governor has declared the province under a state of emergency because of the extensive spread of infection,” said Reihana, head of Lampung Health Agency, on Tuesday.

According to the agency’s data, the number of dengue patients in 2011 was at 507. This year, the number has drastically escalated with 780 people having been affected in January. The figure hit 950 on Tuesday.

“We predict further increases in the number of patients in Lampung until the end of February,” Reihana said.

She cautioned people over the danger of the disease, given the fact that the expected prolonged rainy season would allow reproduction of Aedes aegypti, a species of mosquito that transmits the dengue virus. Intermitting rain and sun, she said, gives room for the mosquito to breed on pooled water.

“Fogging is carried out only with instant and short effects because it kills only adult mosquitoes. More important is people’s precautionary measures,” she said.

She said the agency had stepped up preventive efforts by increasing the logistics needed to deal with the disease by 10 percent, such as insecticides for fogging.

North Lampung, South Lampung, Pesawaran, Metro and Pringsewu were claimed as the regions most prone to the outbreak.

Precautionary measures against the disease, according to Reihana, could be undertaken by way of burying used cans and other things that could become breeding places. To cover and drain bath tubs are two other ways of cutting the mosquito breeding cycle.

People are also recommended to use anti-mosquito lotion and netted beds to prevent mosquito stings.

“To get rid of mosquitoes, nests are more effective than fogging. The latter only kills adult mosquitoes. We are stepping up promotion of preventive efforts in relation to dengue,” Reihana said.

However, the agency’s move is perceived by some as insufficient.

Several relatives of dengue patients expressed disappointment at the way the agency acted in curbing the spread of the disease.

Meanwhile in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), the disease has claimed five lives during the last two weeks.

The Kupang administration declared the outbreak an extraordinary situation (KLB).

Kupang Mayor Daniel Adu said on Tuesday that he urged public health centers and hospitals in Kupang to be on alert as the number of patients of dengue fever had reached 282.

“The local administration has established emergency posts to give first aid to residents,” he said.

He cited locations that have been declared as endemic areas, including the districts of Kuanino, Oetete, Oesapa, Kelapa Lima, as well as Pasir Panjang and Oebobo subdistricts.

Kupang Health Agency head Ary Wijana said that the agency had allocated more than Rp 500 million (US$55,500) to overcome the outbreak.

“We’ll soon conduct fumigation in endemic areas,” he said, adding that the agency had given away powder sachets to locals and had provided consultation.

The agency recorded 511 dengue patients in 2007, nine of whom died. (swd)