JAKARTA, 21 January 2006 - The city health agency has warned of the threat of water-borne diseases following recent flooding in the city. Agency spokeswoman Zelvino said Thursday that during the rainy season residents were more at risk for diseases, particularly diarrhea, leptospirosis and dengue fever, which is found mostly during and shortly after the rainy season.
Whatever germs people carry go into sewage and can be expected to turn up in the dirty, brown waters that flood people’s homes and streets, she said. “Floodwater could pollute water tanks and food storage containers,” Zelvino said. She said diarrhea was more a problem of the rainy season, but could also occur in the dry season when there were water shortages.
Data from the Jakarta Health Agency showed 489 cases of diarrhea in the city from January last year to the first week of January this year. Most of the cases – 141 – occurred in East Jakarta. West Jakarta came second with 96 cases, North Jakarta with 95, followed by South Jakarta with 92 cases and Central Jakarta with 65.
To handle a possible outbreak of diarrhea, Zelvino said the health agency had taken several steps, including mapping out of high-risk areas and analyzing what put the areas at risk. The agency has also carried out a chlorination program, pouring chlorine into water wells to sterilize the water.
It suggested that people, particularly those living in flood-prone areas, practice good personal hygiene. Dengue fever cases are mostly confined to South Jakarta. Last year, South Jakarta had 5,984 cases of dengue, 31 of which were fatal. This January, the toll in the municipality was 103 cases and one death.
The head of communicable disease prevention at the South Jakarta Health Office, Iva Diansari, said the districts of Pasar Minggu, Tebet and Cilandak were considered dengue-prone. Pasar Minggu had 1,133 dengue patients last year, five of whom died. In the first weeks of January this year, there were 23 cases in the area but no deaths. “Pools of standing water in those three areas make them ideal places for the virus’ carrier, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, to breed,” she told The Jakarta Post.