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View all search resultsRegions seeing spikes in dengue fever during seasonal transition
The ongoing transition from the dry to the rainy season has triggered a spike in cases of dengue fever across the archipelago, prompting both local and national authorities to urge communities to maintain vigilance by applying the "3M Plus" strategy and curb the disease's spread.
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A child receives treatment for dengue fever on Feb. 5, 2024, at the Loekmono Hadi Regional General Hospital (RSUD) in Kudus, Central Java. (Antara/Yusuf Nugroho)
D
engue fever cases and deaths are on the rise in several regions across the country, with health officials warning that the ongoing wet-dry season weather anomaly is creating ideal breeding conditions for mosquitoes, the primary vector of the viral disease.
In Batam, Riau Islands province, health authorities have reported 499 dengue cases and two deaths this year until Sept. 1. That figure has surpassed the 329 total cases recorded in 2023, although it remains below the 871 cases reported last year.
Didi Kurmarjadi, head of the Batam Health Agency, said the city could soon declare a local dengue outbreak if the current trend continued.
“The Batam mayor has issued a circular urging residents to remain vigilant against dengue fever, particularly by adopting the 3M Plus strategy,” Didi said on Sept. 4, referring to the government’s prevention campaign.
Initially named 3M for “Menguras, Menutup dan Mengubur” (drain, cover and bury), the decades-long campaign is a strategy to reduce areas with stagnant water that serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
In recent years, the campaign has been expanded to “3M Plus” with the addition of several measures, such as the use of insect repellent or wearing protective clothing to prevent mosquito bites, sprinkling larvicide to kill mosquito larvae, installing window screens, growing mosquito-repellent plants and even keeping fish that eat mosquito larvae.
Didi added that the Batam administration had also conducted fogging operations to kill adult mosquitoes, noting that fogging was not a long-term solution because it did not target mosquito larvae.
