Merauke, Jubi – The Asmat Regency Administration has determined the status of an extraordinary occurrence of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever in the area. As of Tuesday, July 5, 2022, 41 people were being treated for dengue fever, and an eight-year-old child had died of the disease.
Head of the Asmat Health Agency Yonathan Kambu told Jubi that the first case of dengue fever in Asmat was confirmed on May 4, 2022. Since that, the agency has made massive efforts to control and prevent the spread of dengue fever through fogging, larvae inspections in community-owned bathing and drinking water reservoirs, as well as providing public counseling regarding the disease.
“It’s true that there is an extraordinary occurrence of dengue fever here. So far, there have been 41 cases. One child patient aged 8 years died on June 28,” said Yonathan Kambu when contacted by Jubi on Tuesday.
Kambu said the local government established the status of an extraordinary occurrence of dengue fever on June 28, after more and more residents were confirmed positive for dengue fever. The majority of patients are residents of Agats District, the capital city of Asmat, and most of them are children.
“We cannot yet give the Abate larvicide powder to the community due to various considerations. One of them is related to water sources in Asmat, which rely on rainfall, and is used for daily needs such as cooking and drinking. If we give abate to the water, how will the water consumption be?” he said.
“We have also thought that abate can be given but that must be preceded by education to the public so that the water will remain safe for consumption,” Kambu continued.
He further appealed to the residents of Agats to keep the environment clean through the 3M movement, which is, draining water reservoirs such as bathtubs and buckets, tightly closing water reservoirs, and burying used goods that have the potential to become breeding grounds for mosquitoes that transmit dengue fever.
“Please use a mosquito net when you sleep. If there are symptoms of fever, immediately go to the nearest health facility so that it can be detected faster, treated more quickly, and be curbed from spreading,” said Kambu. (*)
