Dengue fever outbreak deemed 'extraordinary'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The deputy governor for social welfare affairs
\nacknowledged yesterday that this year's dengue fever outbreak was
\nan \"extraordinary incidence\" which would take concerted efforts
\nto bring under control.<\/p>\n
Djailani said the toll from the fever, including the loss of
\n36 lives this year, was already worse than last year, when 10
\npeople died and another 2,323 people were hospitalized.<\/p>\n
Data from the City Health Office confirms that 3,233 people
\nwere hospitalized for treatment for the disease as of Monday.<\/p>\n
\"The existing hospitals and clinics are still able to handle
\nthe situation. I don't see the need to ask city-owned health
\ncenters to operate 24 hours as some people have suggested,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Ninety-nine hospitals and 474 public health centers serve the
\ncity's population of about 10 million.<\/p>\n
Several major hospitals reported yesterday they were
\noverwhelmed by the stream of people admitted with dengue fever
\nsymptoms.<\/p>\n
Officials at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central
\nJakarta and Indonesian Christian University (UKI) Hospital in
\nEast Jakarta each said they had referred three patients a day to
\nother hospitals because there were no more beds available.<\/p>\n
Etty S., an official at Cipto Mangunkusumo, said that many
\ndengue fever patients had to be accommodated in rooms designated
\nfor people suffering from other illnesses.<\/p>\n
The hospital has admitted a daily average of 16 people
\nsuffering from the disease this month, she added.<\/p>\n
It has allocated 134 of its 1,156 rooms for these patients.<\/p>\n
Head of UKI Hospital's medical services Mangatar Marpaung said
\nthe hospital treated 173 dengue fever sufferers since March.<\/p>\n
Marpaung said the outbreak was expected to peak next month and
\nthe hospital would prepare more medical supplies in anticipation.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, city-owned Tarakan Hospital in Central Jakarta,
\nwith 150 beds, announced yesterday it was no longer able to
\naccommodate dengue fever patients.<\/p>\n
Head administrator Nurdjanah told the media the hospital had
\nadmitted 108 patients with the disease in the first 14 days of
\nthis month alone.<\/p>\n
\"We are forced to place new patients in any available rooms,
\nsuch as the postsurgery room,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Admittance records show the number of patients treated for the
\ncondition increased over the past four months.<\/p>\n
In January, the hospital recorded 39 patients, in February 49,
\nincluding two who later died, and in March 135, with four deaths.<\/p>\n
Four of the people admitted this month have died.<\/p>\n
Nurdjanah said these people died because they were admitted to
\nthe hospital when their illness was at a critical stage.<\/p>\n
She said many people mistook symptoms of dengue fever for flu
\nbecause they were similar, particularly the high fever.<\/p>\n
Chief of the Central Jakarta health office, Sonny Tobing,
\nspeaking during a visit to Tarakan Hospital yesterday, said that
\nmass fumigation operations were largely ineffective in combating
\nthe disease's spread. He said they only killed the adult aedes
\naegypty mosquitoes, the carrier of the dengue virus, but failed
\nto exterminate larva living in stagnant water.<\/p>\n
The outbreak has hit 261 of the capital's 265 subdistricts.<\/p>\n
\"Only three subdistricts in Pulau Seribu and another one in
\nKamal Muara are still free from dengue fever,\" he said. (ind\/ivy)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/dengue-fever-outbreak-deemed-extraordinary-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}