W

ith the rise in dengue fever fatalities, the Jakarta Health Agency has called on citizens to regularly clear potential mosquito breeding grounds in a bid to make the city dengue-free by 2020.

The agency'€™s control unit head, John Marbun, said that the trend in dengue cases in the first half of this year was alarming so residents had to pay serious attention to cleaning up breeding grounds that usually form in stagnant water.

'€œPreventing the spread of dengue is the responsibility of every citizen. We have to start clearing up drains and other potential places for mosquitoes to breed,'€ he said at an anti-dengue event in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, on Friday.

The agency has warned Jakartans about the imminent threat of a dengue fever outbreak during the transition from the rainy to dry season. It also reminded residents to seek prompt medical treatment in the event of infection.

The city administration had specifically provided free third-class hospital treatment facilities for low-income dengue patients in 17 hospitals, John said, including Cipto Mangunkusumo in Central Jakarta, Fatmawati in South Jakarta and Persahabatan in East Jakarta.

As of May, the agency recorded 3,119 cases in Jakarta with seven fatalities, already higher than the total deaths throughout 2012 which was five. East Jakarta is recorded as the most dengue-prone area, having registered 1,399 cases, with six out of the seven fatalities coming from that municipality. South Jakarta has the second highest rate, with 678 cases during the same period, but with no fatalities reported.

John reminded citizens to stay alert and active in preventing the breeding of aedes aegypti mosquitoes, carrier of the disease, as stipulated in a city bylaw.

The 2007 bylaw on dengue control stipulates that clearing mosquito breeding grounds is an obligation for every citizen and must be conducted regularly, at least once a week. Violators will be given a warning followed by sanctions up to imprisonment. '€œMosquito larvae controllers cannot work on their own. We have to work to protect our own families,'€ John said.

The 2020 dengue-free city plan was inspired by Cuba, which reduced the number of dengue cases to zero several years back, although it recorded several cases in the eastern part of the country last year. The country kept itself dengue-free through locally relevant, targeted basic implementation and research.

According to the Indian Journal of Dermatology, Cuba was the first Latin American country to report a major epidemic of dengue (DEN-1 serotype) fever in 1977. The first epidemic of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DEN-2 serotype) was reported in 1981, the first such epidemic in the Americas, with 344,203 cases, including 10,313 severe and very severe cases, resulting in 158 deaths.

Thereafter, Cuba achieved a dengue-free period for 16 years using a successful vector control program until 1997, when another DEN-2 epidemic affected the nation.

Jakarta declared the 2007 dengue outbreak an extraordinary situation, with 4,406 cases in four months '€” higher than the average 3,146 cases of previous years '€” and 41 deaths.

Urban health professor from Atma Jaya University, Charles Suryadi, said clearing work and school environments was very important as the mosquitoes usually attacked at around 9 a.m.

'€œAt this time, parents are at work and children are at school. These places need to be cleared too,'€ Charles said.

South Jakarta health office head Kurnianto Amien recently said most dengue cases in the municipality were found in business districts such as Setiabudi and Kebayoran Baru.

'€œIt'€™s difficult to fumigate these areas because often office building managements are reluctant to cooperate with us and underestimate the hazards of dengue fever,'€ he said.