goodmorningpapua.com – The National Sports Week (PON) which will take place in Papua is feared to be bothered by malaria. It is undeniable that until now, Papua is still a malaria endemic area.
Malaria is caused by the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito carrying the Plasmodium parasite. This mosquito parasite has the ability to reproduce in the organs of the person who is bitten by the mosquito vector.
The Indonesian Ministry of Health stated that at least 435,000 people in the world died from malaria. In Indonesia itself, the trend of malaria tends to decline in 2020. However, the Director of Prevention and Control of Vector and Zoonotic Diseases of the Indonesian Ministry of Health, Didik Budijanto, revealed that 86 percent of the cases came from Papua.
“There are four regencies or cities in Papua, all of which are endemic for malaria (namely) Jayapura City, Jayapura Regency, Merauke, and Timika. All of them are in the red category,” he said as quoted by Antara.
Didik also expressed that there are three variants of the disease caused by mosquito bites in Papua, namely Anopheles which causes malaria and filariasis (elephantiasis) and Aedes aegypti which causes dengue.
He called Anopheles a mosquito who likes clubbing. For, these mosquitoes only come out at night starting at 18:00 until the morning.
“Anopheles mosquitoes love clubbing. This mosquito will be ready when the sun begins to set. At that time he will preen themselves and fly looking for prey,” he said.
In addition to starting to appear at night, these mosquitoes usually often perch on walls, near the ground, or dirty waterways. This is different from the Dengue mosquito which prefers clean puddle of water.
To prevent the emergence of malaria problems during PON, various ways were carried out.
“If it’s a night game, then there is an effort that is mutually agreed upon that every arena or hotel, guest house, athlete’s lodging, and coach must be free of vectors (mosquitoes).”
In addition, the process of fogging or fumigation is conducted at least once a week.
“Unless there is a night game. So, two to three hours a day before the game starts, it will be fogged first.”
As a form of self-protection, people who will go to Papua are required to take antibiotics with the trademark Doxycyline.