REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) was still an important health problem in Asia and the world. The data showed the number of new cases of DHF in the world increased by 30 times in 50 years.

"The number of world DHF cases is estimated at 390 million each year in more than 100 countries," said the Head of Research and Development of Health (Balitbangkes) of Health Ministry, Prof. Dr. Tjandra Yoga Aditama, SpP (K), MARS, DTM & H, DTCE, on Monday, July 27.

Every year about half a million people in the world were experiencing severe dengue, it often followed by shock and bleeding. As many as 40 percent of the world's population were at risk to get dengue illness.

"In Asian countries this number is certainly higher," he said. In Asia, DHF spending budget of about 2 billion US dollars, this excludes the cost of prevention.

In Japan DBD was not spread by mosquitoes such as Aedes aegypti in Indonesia, but by Aedes albopictus in Japan called the Tiger Mosquito. In Singapore, the four types of dengue virus remained found circulating, so that in Singapore too was still became an important health problem. Even there was people mention of dengue in Singapore as hyperendemic.

There were several things that could be done in the prevention of dengue fever, the mosquito vector control, especially with the 3 M plus program. "It still remains a primary prevention method, and also conducted various researches in this field," said Tjandra.

Vaccine which was currently developed showed protection of approximately 60 percent, 75 percent protection for type of virus Den-3 and Den-4, protection of 51 percent for type of virus Den-1, and the protection of 35 percent for type of Den-2 virus.

Prevention could also be done through such research effort to discover what kind of cell in the human body that played a role in protective immunity, the possibility of the formation of an artificial antibody that could handle all four dengue virus subtypes above, as well as trying to suppress mosquito populations.

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