Bali has recorded thousands of dengue fever cases in the province since the start of the year, with Buleleng regency alone accounting for about a third of the total.
According to reports, officials from the Bali Health Agency recorded a total 6,050 cases of dengue fever between January and April of this year. More than 2,000 cases were reported in Buleleng regency, followed by around 1,300 cases in Badung regency and over 850 cases in Denpasar city.
The mortality rate here in Bali currently stands below one percent, with 13 deaths recorded from the tropical disease until the end of April.
“The death rate is still low, but we should not ignore it, because death no matter how small still poses a threat,” I Ketut Suarjaya, who heads the Bali Health Agency, said yesterday.
Suarjaya said residents should regularly clean water-filled containers around the house to prevent their homes from becoming breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
Late last month, health officials in Denpasar began warning of the risk of dengue fever, noting that the public should pay equal attention to both dengue fever and COVID-19. Denpasar, for its part, have recorded more cases of dengue fever this year so far compared to that in 2019.
There have been concerns that healthcare workers are having a hard time distinguishing between dengue fever and COVID-19, as symptoms like fever and headache are common to both. In early March, Singapore-based doctors in medical journal The Lancet highlighted the similarities between the mosquito-borne disease and the novel coronavirus, as well as how this could result in false-positive results for dengue.
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