31 villagers may have been infected with Chikungunya<\/p>\n
Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor<\/p>\n
At least 31 residents of two neighborhoods units of Kayu Manis
\nvillage, Cibadak subdistrict, Tanah Sareal regency, have been
\ndiagnosed with Chikungunya, a health agency official said on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
The head of the Bogor health agency team to eradicate
\nChikungunya, Nuraini, claimed the agency was conducting blood
\ntests on samples taken from 10 residents. The results will be
\navailable within a week.<\/p>\n
\"Eighteen of the patients have already recovered,\" Nuraini,
\nwho is also head of Kayu Manis community health center, told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
One of the patients, Nanah, 39, said she had been suffering
\nfrom the disease since early January.<\/p>\n
\"I couldn't walk. I had a high fever and red spots appeared on
\nmy body. I went to see the doctor, who prescribed various
\nmedicines, including antibiotics,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Admitting that response to the outbreak had been belated,
\nNuraini said the health agency had opened a clinic on Tuesday in
\none of the neighborhood units, which provided information on the
\ndisease and free examinations and treatment.<\/p>\n
The agency had also fumigated the area to prevent the disease
\nfrom spreading.<\/p>\n
\"The patients said they had been ill since early in the month.
\nIf they had visited the community health center at that time, we
\nmight have taken action sooner,\" Nuraini remarked.<\/p>\n
Similar to dengue fever, Chikungunya is characterized by an
\nextremely high fever. It is caused by a self-limiting febrile
\nvirus that is transmitted through the bite of either the Aedes
\nafricanus or the Aedes albopictus mosquito, which breeds in both
\nsuburban and rural areas.<\/p>\n
People who suffer from Chikungunya usually experience muscular
\naches, followed by extremely high fever and a rash. As the
\ndisease progresses, they will experience paralyzing pain
\nthroughout the body. There is as yet no cure for the disease.<\/p>\n
Many cases of Chikungunya were also reported in early January
\nin some regions of Central Java province and also in West
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
The disease was first detected in West Java and Yogyakarta in
\nJanuary last year. Later it spread as far as West Timor, South
\nSulawesi and West Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The central government had warned that further outbreaks of
\nChikungunya were possible anywhere in Indonesia as the spread of
\nthe disease could not be predicted or anticipated, unless the
\nbreeding grounds of its carriers were cleaned up.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/31-villagers-may-have-been-infected-with-chikungunya-1447899208",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}