Dengue death is less reported, although the fatality rate is higher than coronavirus: West Java Governor

BANDUNG, Mar 11, 2020, ANTARA. Dengue fever in West Java Province claimed 15 lives from January to March, nevertheless it was less reported than the coronavirus, or COVID-19 outbreak, West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil said, ANTARA reported.

“Sometimes this kind of news is less reported (than the coronavirus), although the fatality rate is higher,” Kamil noted after the inauguration of the West Java Command and Information Center for COVID-19 here on Tuesday.

Kamil said the government has called upon all citizens in the province to work together to eradicate the Aedes mosquito and practice a clean and healthy lifestyle.

“I hope that people will care more about hygiene to prevent such disease,” he said.

The province’s health office had earlier reported that from January to March, 15 people died due to dengue fever. The number is lower compared to the same period in 2019.

Head of the West Java Health Office, Berli Hamdani Gelung Sakti, said the death toll of dengue fever during the same period in 2019 reached 49.

“In January 2019, the death toll reached 26 people, and in February 23 people. In 2020, the disease claimed 15 lives during January to early March,” he said.

With the high number of deaths, it can be categorized as an extraordinary case (KLB) of dengue fever, he said.

The Health Ministry has recorded 100 deaths nationwide, as of Monday (March 9), due to dengue fever from January to March.

Sikka District in East Nusa Tenggara recorded the highest number, with 1,190 patients, 13 of whom died.