Cases Of Death Due To DHF In NTT Continue To Increase

KUPANG - The number of deaths from dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) increased by 12 people from the previous eight on Monday, February 14 last week.

Head of the Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Section of the Health, Population and Civil Registration Office of NTT Province, Agusthina Rospita, said the number of deaths from dengue fever in the region increased by four cases in a week.

"There has been an increase in the number of deaths due to dengue fever in Belu Regency, one person in East Sumba and two in West Sumba, because previously only one person died," he said, quoted by Antara, Monday, February 21.

He explained that the most cases of dengue fever occurred in West Manggarai Regency, where the number of cases this week rose from 212 to 238, followed by Kupang City, where the number of cases rose from 208 to 229 in a week, and Sikka Regency from 156 cases to 172 cases of DHF.

According to Agusthina, the number of dengue cases in NTT from the beginning of the year to February 21, 2022 is higher than the number of dengue cases in the same period in 2021 which was recorded at 661 cases.

"Last year, in the same period, only four people died from dengue, now it has reached 12. Meanwhile, the cases have increased dramatically, reaching 1,364 cases in the same period as last year," he said.

The NTT Provincial Health, Population and Civil Registration Office appealed to residents to intensify environmental cleaning and eradication of mosquito nests to minimize the risk of dengue transmission.

In addition, district and city governments were asked to fumigate using insecticides to eradicate dengue virus-transmitting mosquitoes in residential areas where residents are infected with dengue.