Beware of dengue fever during the rainy season

Entering the rainy season, Indonesians are advised to increase their awareness of the risk of infectious diseases, including dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). Responding to this trend, the Ministry of Health through the Directorate General of Disease Prevention and Control (P2P) announced several prevention efforts that must be considered together.

Reported detikHealthThe Arbovirosis Task Force of the Director General of the Ministry of Health P2P, Agus Handito, revealed that cases of dengue fever are still a major concern. Efforts have been made to eradicate mosquito nests (PSN) on a large scale, but the number of cases continues to fluctuate each year.

The latest data from the Ministry of Health shows that by the 42nd week of 2024, 203,921 cases of dengue fever were recorded in 482 districts/cities in 36 provinces, with the number of deaths reaching 1,210 in the 258 districts/cities in 32 provinces. To overcome this threat, the government continues to promote dengue vaccination to achieve the Zero Dengue Death target by 2030.

“Currently, the prevalence of dengue in Indonesia is a real challenge. Even though the government has made various efforts to overcome this problem, especially regarding the elimination of mosquito nests (PSN), we still see the number of cases changing every year,” Agus said in the his talk show ‘Protect your family from the danger of dengue fever’, Saturday (9/11/2024).

Currently, there are two types of dengue vaccine that have received distribution licenses from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This vaccine can be used through a paid scheme.

A member of the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI) Immunization Task Force 2004-2024, Dr. Soedjatmiko, SpA(K), that children older than 5 years and adults aged 45 years can currently receive a dengue vaccine. This includes those who have already had dengue fever.

“As we know, there are 4 types of dengue virus. Therefore, if a child or adult has recovered from the dengue virus, he still needs to be vaccinated. We don’t know what kind of virus will be next, because it is difficult and expensive to test,” explained Prof. Soedjatmiko.

“Basically, even if you’ve had dengue, you still clean mosquito nests and get vaccinated twice. Even if you are sick or have just recovered from an illness, about 3 months later, we vaccinate again and we still get two times,” he continued.

Although dengue can attack any age, data shows that almost half of the deaths from dengue occur in children aged 5 to 14 years. With the number of cases in school age children around 400-800 cases. How did it happen?

According to Professor Soedjatmiko, there are two main reasons. First of all, children at this age do not have enough immunity to fight against dengue infection.

“Secondly, children are often exposed to mosquito bites at school, which usually happens during the day, when they are playing or gathering,” he said.

Professor Soedjatmiko revealed that fumigation or spraying of insecticides is still one way to control the population of mosquitoes that cause dengue fever. However, this method has limitations in long-term prevention.

“At the same time, if there is a case (dengue fever) it is effective so that it does not spread. However, for long-term prevention, smoke is not very effective,” said Professor Soedjatmiko.

“Smoke kills adult mosquitoes, but it cannot kill the larvae or the larvae in the water. What is effective is killing the larvae, so that they do not become adult mosquitoes,” said e.

The initial symptoms of dengue fever are often similar to typhus or influenza, making early diagnosis difficult. High fever, body aches, and fatigue are typical of dengue fever, but accurate diagnosis requires laboratory tests.

“Sometimes on the first to third day, doctors still find it difficult to distinguish dengue fever from other diseases. If you don’t rely on visual observation alone, sometimes you can be wrong ,” he concluded.

This article was published on detikHealth. Read more here.

(iqk/iqk)