While cases and deaths are lower nationwide, six regencies have declared dengue fever outbreaks from January to March, with Sikka in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) reporting the highest number of cases at 1,216 as of Wednesday.

The Health Ministry’s director of vector and zoonotic infectious disease, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said the high number of cases in Sikka was caused by the poor handling of the regency's preventive measures for eradicating mosquito breeding grounds, allowing uncontrolled population growth of the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

“Many uncovered water reservoirs inside and outside their homes. Puddles and plastic bottles are also common,”
she said.

Siti urged both the Sikka administration and residents to improve their awareness of the matter as the region kept reporting high numbers of cases in the past 10 years.

The Health Ministry has recorded a total of 17,820 cases — 104 of which were fatal — of dengue fever since January, fewer than in the same period last year when there were about 52,000 cases and 439 deaths.

Lampung province has the most reported cases with 3,431, followed by NTT with 2,732, East Java with 1,761, West Java with 1,420 and Jambi with 703.

Siti explained that most fatalities were caused by the inadequate treatment of patients who were already suffering the later stages of the disease.

“Dengue fever has stages. It’s very important to know when to send a patient to be treated in a hospital, considering not only the severity of the condition but also the time needed to bring the patient,” she said, adding that some districts in Sikka were quite far from the nearest hospital in Maumere.

“There are also cases in which patients or their family members were not willing to go to hospital because they thought they were feeling better. In [a case of dengue], the fever usually subsides on the third to fifth day, but there is indeed a pause before the [fatal] shock comes,” Siti said.

Aside from Sikka, Belitung in Bangka Belitung Islands, Ciamis in West Java, Temanggung in Central Java, North Bengkulu in Bengkulu and Central Lampung in Lampung all declared emergencies over outbreaks in the past three months. All but Sikka have since experienced a decrease of cases and have revoked the emergency status.

Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto visited TC Hillers Maumere General Hospital in Sikka on Monday, bringing along 30 physicians and six nurses to treat patients.

"There were 1,190 people suffering [from dengue fever in Sikka] — that is quite a number. Thirteen of them have died, but it was not our fault. It is God's will," Terawan said, adding that the health workers had done extraordinary work.

Following Terawan's visit, Sikka regency reported the 14th fatality in the outbreak as a 7-year-old succumbed to the disease at the Maumere hospital on Monday evening.

At least 1,065 of the 1,216 patients have recovered and discharged from hospital, the Sikka Health Agency reported.

In NTT, more than 2,700 people have been hospitalized because of dengue fever across 20 regencies and one municipality. The death toll in NTT rose to 32 on Monday.

Last year, West Java reported the highest number of dengue fever cases in the country with 19,240, followed by East Java with 16,699, Central Java with 8,501, Jakarta with 8,408, North Sumatra with 5,721 and Lampung
with 5,369.

Cases of dengue fever nationwide, however, have continued to decline since 2016 when 204,171 people were infected. (aly)

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