Epidemiology of dengue hemorrhagic fever in Indonesia: analysis of five decades data from the National Disease Surveillance

OBJECTIVE: To provide a national incidence rate and case fatality rate of dengue hemorrhagic fever in Indonesia through an analysis of the National Disease Surveillance database from the Directorate General of Disease Prevention and Control of Ministry of Health. RESULTS: Available data has indicated an increasing trend of dengue hemorrhagic fever incidence in Indonesia over the past 50 years. Incidence rates appear to be cyclic, peaking approximately every 6–8 years. In contrast, the case fatality rate has decreased approximately by half each decade, since 1980. Java Island contributed the highest average number of dengue hemorrhagic fever cases each year. In recent years, Bali and Borneo (Kalimantan) have had the highest incidence while Papua Island, the easternmost region of the Indonesian archipelago, has had the lowest incidence.