"31 people in those sub-districts are reported to have been infected by dengue fever."Malang, East Java (ANTARA News) - Fifty-seven sub-districts in Malang city, East Java, are working to halt the spread of dengue fever, local health office spokeswoman Enny Sekar Rengganingati said here on Monday.
To prevent the disease from spreading, she said local residents have been instructed to actively clean up the breeding ground of Aedes Aegypti mosquito, known to spread dengue fever.
"Although there is no immediate report of fatalities so far, 31 people in those sub-districts are reported to have been infected by dengue fever," Enny said.
She expressed hope that the number of dengue cases in Malang would be lower than in previous years, when 163 people in 2011 were infected by the disease, with one fatality reported.
According to Enny, the Malang health department continues to make every effort to combat the spread of dengue fever by actively conducting anti-mosquito fogging.
She added that the dengue fever outbreak in Malang in 2010 claimed five lives among the 879 people who were infected by the disease.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that bites by infected female Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes could transmit dengue virus to human beings.
The WHO estimated that some 2.5 billion people were at risk from dengue fever and that 50 million people worldwide are diagnosed with dengue every year.
Besides dengue fever, Enny said the Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes can also spread a viral disease known as chikungunya and, therefore, the public should regularly work to eliminate the mosquito's breeding ground.
(Uu.O001/INE/KR-BSR)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
