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Dengue cases rise as rainy season peaks
As regions across the country report a rise in dengue fever cases and deaths, the Health Ministry has downplayed the disease's spread but still urged the public to exercise vigilance by taking preventive measures.
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A young patient is treated for dengue on Feb. 5, 2024 at Loekmono Hadi Regional General Hospital in Kudus, Central Java. The regency’s health authorities recorded a 25 percent increase in dengue patients from the previous month to 55 cases in January. (Antara/Yusuf Nugroho)
H
ealth authorities are reporting an increase in cases of dengue fever and deaths from the disease as Indonesia enters the peak of the rainy season, which has prompted the government to urge citizens to remain vigilant against its transmission.
Dengue fever, a viral disease that is transmitted through the bite of infected Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes commonly found in the tropics, has slowly spread across the archipelago in recent weeks, in line with a warning from health experts last year about a potential increase in transmission due to warmer temperatures caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon.
More than 230 dengue cases and at least three deaths were reported as of Feb. 10 in Palembang, South Sumatra, marking a 64 percent increase from 140 recorded cases the previous month, according to the city’s health agency head Yudhi Setiawan.
“Dengue fever has spread rapidly this rainy season. We’ve done some fogging in several areas where people are affected by the disease,” Yudhi said as quoted by Kompas.com, referring to a technique of dispersing insecticide.
Other regions also saw more cases compared to last year.
Yogyakarta’s Kulon Progo regency had recorded at least 17 dengue cases as of last Friday, Kompas.com reported, higher than the total figure for last year’s rainy season.
Elsewhere in Java, at least six people had contracted dengue fever last month in Kediri, East Java, while two out of 40 cases had died from the disease in Klaten, Central Java, according to various media reports.
