CIMAHI: WATCH OUT FOR DENGUE IN FEBRUARY AND MARCH

Jakarta Forum - Cimahi, The public in Cimahi, West Java, had been called to watch out for an attack by dengue (DBD) pending the peak of the rainy season in February and March 2010.

"The peak of the rainy season may occur in January, February to March this year, during which BBD cases may increase during that time, and the general public had been urged to watch it out," Deputy Director of Cibabat general hospital Huzen Rachman said Tuesday.

He said high rainfall is conducive for the breeding of Aedes aegypti mosquitos, carrying the disease.

Therefore he called on the general public to pay attention to their surroundings and destroy mosquito nests by 3M (draining, burying, and covering) places where mosquitos loved to breed.

He said the number of BBD cases being handled by Cibabat hospital had also been increasing.

Before December 2009, the number of BBD patients handed by the hospital reached an average of five each day.

But entering the end of December 2009 to mid-January 2010 the number of DBD cases had increased significantly.

"According to the Cibabat hospital, in mid-December 2009 there were 45 cases per day, which in mid-January 2010 increased to 60 per day," Huzen said.

Up to January 10, 2010 the BBD cases in Cimahi had reached 40, with one death.

The BBD cases in Cimahi in 2009 reached 2,026, with seven deaths, while in 2008 the cases reached only 1,250 with six deaths.

But the number of BBD cases in Cimahi in 2007 was still the highest so far with 2,373 cases including 18 deaths.

Source: Antara News