Bali’s Health Office (Dinkes Bali) has issued an early warning against dengue fever as the rainy season begins in November, urging proactive measures to prevent mosquito breeding.
“We’ve circulated an early alert letter to all regional health offices at the district and city levels,” said I Nyoman Sudiyasa, Head of the Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Section at Dinkes Bali, in Denpasar on Friday.
Community-Led Mosquito Control
The rainy season provides fertile conditions for mosquito breeding, prompting the health office to promote the One Home, One Larva Monitor program (Gerakan Satu Rumah Satu Jumantik). This initiative encourages households to designate at least one family member to monitor and eliminate mosquito larvae.
“It’s not easy to engage communities, but district and municipal health offices can help foster awareness so every home can have a larva monitor,” Sudiyasa said. He emphasized that controlling mosquito vectors is more effective and economical than relying on costly vaccinations or treatments, which remain limited.
Grassroots Efforts and Education
Sudiyasa highlighted the importance of leveraging village resources to fund educational campaigns. Health workers can provide straightforward advice on eliminating mosquito breeding grounds, such as drying and cleaning stagnant water areas where larvae thrive.
“Without community participation, mosquito control isn’t feasible. Relying solely on fogging isn’t enough. A single mosquito can lay hundreds of eggs multiple times in its life, so if only the adult female mosquitoes are killed, countless eggs may already have been laid,” he warned.
Fogging as a Secondary Measure
In addition to community-driven mosquito control, Dinkes Bali is offering targeted fogging as a secondary intervention. Fogging will be conducted only after epidemiological investigations confirm the presence of Aedes aegypti larvae in dengue fever cases.
“If larvae are found during the investigation, focused fogging will follow. Otherwise, the likelihood is that the dengue fever victim was bitten elsewhere,” Sudiyasa explained.
