Dengue fever cases reach 71,633 until July 8

Kamis, 9 Juli 2020 18:19 WIB

Dr Siti Nadia Tarmizi, the Health Ministry's Director of Prevention and Control of Vector and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. ANTARA/Katriana

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's Health Ministry has recorded 71,633 cases of dengue fever in total across Indonesia as of July 8 this year.

"We have noted that the provinces of West Java, Bali, East Java, East Nusa Tenggara, Lampung, Jakarta, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Central Java, Yogyakarta, and Riau registered the largest number of cases," Dr Siti Nadia Tarmizi, the ministry's Director of Prevention and Control of Vector and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, stated during a teleconference via Zoom here on Thursday.

A total of 10,772 dengue fever cases were found in West Java, followed by 8,930 cases in Bali, 5,948 cases in East Java, 5,539 cases in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), 5,135 cases in Lampung, 4,227 cases in Jakarta, 3,796 cases in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), 2,846 cases in Central Java, 2,720 cases in Yogyakarta, and 2,255 cases in Riau.

The dengue fever outbreak has claimed 459 lives, including 92 in West Java, 56 in NTT, 53 in East Java, 42 in Central Java, 22 in Lampung, 19 each in South Sulawesi and Riau, 18 in Bali, 16 in Banten, and 13 in NTB.

Districts and cities witnessing the highest number of dengue fever cases comprised Buleleng in Bali, with 2,677 cases, followed by 2,138 cases in Badung in Bali, 1,748 in West Java’s Bandung City, 1,715 in Sikka in NTT, 1,365 in East Jakarta, 1,349 in West Lombok in NTB, 1,266 in Bali’s Denpasar City, 1,224 in Gianyar in Bali, 1,135 in West Jakarta, and 1,021 cases in Malang, East Java.

Cities and district recording the highest death rate comprised Tasikmalaya, West Java, with 16 people succumbing to dengue fever, followed by 15 in Sikka, NTT; 11 in Cirebon, West Java; nine each in Belu, NTT, and Bandung City, West Java; eight in Jambi City; seven each in Kupang City, NTT, and Pacitan, East Java; and six each in Bengkalis, Riau, and Bandung District, West Java.

During the January-July period this year, the number of dengue fever cases was higher than 35,101 cases recorded during the corresponding period in 2017, and 21,861 cases in 2018.

However, the number of cases in 2020 was lower than 112,954 cases during the January-July 2019 period.

Meanwhile, 459 fatalities were recorded during this year's January-July period, much higher than 243 in 2017 and 158 in 2018. However, the figure was lower than 751 in 2019.

The ministry has appealed to the people and business entities to maintain cleanliness to eradicate the aedes aegypti mosquito.

Dengue occurs year-round in Indonesia, with peak transmissions in the rainy season, from November through April.