Dengue Fever in Adults

It turns out that dengue fever also attacks adults and not only attacks residents in cities, but also in villages.

KOMPAS/FAKHRI FADLURROHMAN

A nurse checks the condition of a patient with dengue hemorrhagic fever who is being treated at Taman Sari Regional Hospital, Jakarta, Tuesday (16/4/2024).

According to the mass media, cases of dengue fever have recently increased. Indeed, since the heavy rains in the past few weeks, there have been lots of mosquitoes in my neighborhood. In my RT, five people have been treated, three children and two adults, even one 62 year old.

We residents often experience dengue fever, but as far as I know dengue fever usually affects children, rarely affects adults. Has there been a change so that dengue fever also attacks adults? Is dengue fever more severe in adults than in children?

Our country has decades of experience in dealing with dengue fever attacks. The community is familiar with 3M's motto (drain water storage areas, close water storage areas, and bury or recycle used items that can hold water). Every RT has tried to practice it. However, puddles of water in my village are difficult to completely eliminate because the water flow, including many sewers, are not functioning.

Occasionally jumantik goes around and teaches us to clean puddles of water and recognize mosquito larvae. However, jumantik activities are not yet routine. Maybe there were too many houses that Jumantik had to visit.

Also read: Dengue Fever Transmission Still High, 475 Dengue Fever Deaths Reported

If there is a case of dengue fever, community health center officers usually carry out fumigation. However, often families who experience dengue fever do not report to the community health center so that fumigation is not carried out. We felt that after fumigation the mosquitoes were somewhat reduced

Actually, which is more important according to doctors, doing 3M or fumigation? My family just came home from treatment for dengue fever.

KOMPAS/FAKHRI FADLURROHMAN

Officials from the Kebayoran Lama Community Health Center conducted fumigation in a residential area in RT 010 RW 005, Grogol Selatan Village, Kebayoran Lama District, Jakarta on Monday (14/5/2024). The fumigation was carried out to follow up on the finding of dengue fever (DBD) cases in RT 010.

His family at home underwent dengue fever vaccination. I just heard that there is a dengue fever vaccine. Who is this vaccine intended for? Is it effective enough? I feel happy with this dengue fever vaccine.

Ihopefully like the Covid-19 vaccine, the dengue fever vaccine can also control dengue fever which has been a threat to our society for years. When will the government provide the dengue fever vaccine to all residents? Thank you for the doctor's explanation.

M in J

Indeed, in the early stages, dengue fever is generally found in children. Cases of dengue fever are also frequently found in cities and rarely in rural areas. However, as it develops, dengue fever is also found in adults and not only affects urban residents but also rural ones.

As we all know, dengue fever virus is transmitted through mosquito bites. Mosquitoes that carry the dengue fever virus often bite people during the day. These mosquitoes breed in stagnant water.

If there is stagnant water for about a week, it is easy for us to find mosquito larvae that carry the dengue fever virus. Therefore, efforts to eradicate larvae through preventing water accumulation are made through the 3M activities.

Don't wait for jumantik to come to monitor whether there is standing water in the house, yard or around our house.

The fumigation carried out by the community health center aims to kill adult mosquitoes. Although the adult mosquito population can be reduced somewhat, if there are many mosquito larvae in standing water, those larvae will develop into adult mosquitoes.

Therefore, the 3M efforts are crucial to prevent mosquito larvae from developing. Fumigation is only done for temporary purposes to reduce the adult mosquito population. This activity is usually carried out if there are cases of Dengue Fever in a particular settlement.

Householder

Efforts to control dengue fever are carried out with the 3M approach, now added with the assignment of mosquito larvae monitors or "jumantik". Jumantik officers will go around residential areas, enter homes to inspect whether there are mosquito larvae in stagnant water.

Officials will train residents to prevent stagnant water. Water in the bathroom or kitchen cannot be left stagnant for too long, up to one week. It must be drained so that mosquito larvae cannot develop.

Keeping the house and environment clean from puddles of water is the responsibility of the residents. Do not wait for the mosquito control officer to come and observe whether there is standing water in the house, yard, or around our house. Mosquito control officers are more like inspectors, so monitoring activities should be carried out regularly.

This activity can be carried out by housewives or other family members. We can also utilise the energy of school children, junior high school students, to monitor the presence of mosquito larvae. By involving school students, they will become accustomed and capable of keeping their homes free from dengue mosquito larvae in the future.

In settlements, there are often empty houses or neglected fields. Dengue mosquito can also breed there. Therefore, residents must pay attention to these empty houses and fields. If the mosquitoes breed there, they can fly and bite our family members.

In addition to residential areas, the transmission of dengue fever can also occur in schools or workplaces. Therefore, these places must also be protected to be free from dengue mosquitoes.

Also read: Living with DHF

Dengue fever cases in people over 15 years of age are increasingly common, accounting for almost 45% of all cases. As you also mentioned, there are now more cases of dengue fever affecting the elderly. Generally, dengue fever cases in adults are not more severe than those in children.

Cases of dengue fever (DBD) often affect children under the age of 5. The mortality rate of DBD in children is still higher compared to DBD in adults.

The issue of air pollution is not new. The community's condition, which is threatened by air pollution, has been ongoing for a long time. There is also no shortage of research evidence indicating the threats of the impacts of air pollution. However, in reality, this has not been able to push for significant efforts in controlling air pollution. The residents are increasingly suffering, living in the midst of air pollution. There is indeed a Dengue vaccine. There are two types of Dengue vaccine: Dengue vaccine with weakened live virus and recombinant Dengue vaccine from weakened virus.

Currently, the commonly used vaccine is the recombinant dengue vaccine. This vaccine can be used for citizens aged 6 to 45 years old and requires two injections. The prevention benefits of transmission are quite high, around 80 percent. Currently, the dengue vaccine is still funded by the community and has not yet been included in the national immunization program.

DBD vaccination is an additional tool to control DBD, but it does not substitute the 3M and jumantik activities. Those activities must still be continued, while families who want to protect their members from DBD can undergo this DBD immunization.

Also read: IDAI Recommends Additional Vaccine Types in Child Immunization Services

Efforts to control dengue fever are not easy as they are influenced by our environmental conditions. Some countries in the ASEAN region have been able to minimize the spread of dengue fever.

These efforts can be achieved thanks to the close collaboration between government-led control activities and the community. These activities are not only limited to the health environment, but also involve activities in other ministries, such as the Ministry of Public Works and the Environment. Hopefully, our country can also control DBD so that there will not be many more DBD victims in our country.

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

Dr Samsuridjal Djauzi

Samsuridjal Djauzi, Doctor at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta