Mystery disease affects 230 in Bandung area<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung<\/p>\n
An unidentified disease has continued to spread in Bandung
\nregency, Cikalongwetan district, affecting more than 230
\nresidents in the villages of Mandalamukti and Ciptagumati.<\/p>\n
According to data from the public health center in
\nCikalongwetan, the number of people affected by the disease,
\nwhich is being called Chikungunya, has increased to 231 from 90
\nlast December.<\/p>\n
Sudradjat, a doctor, said on Thursday that the public health
\ncenter, in cooperation with a medical team from the health office
\nin Bandung, had given vitamin B1 shots to locals to try and stop
\nthe spread of the disease.<\/p>\n
\"We have set up several emergency medical posts in the two
\nvillages to provide 24-hour care for patients affected by the
\ndisease,\" he said, adding that the authorities were only now
\ngetting a handle on the problem because there was a delay in
\nreporting the outbreak of the disease to the public health center
\nand the local administration.<\/p>\n
Sudradjat said the disease first emerged three months ago
\nafter several people who were bitten by aedes albopictus
\nmosquitoes came down with influenza and demonstrated symptoms
\nsimilar to those associated with dengue fever.<\/p>\n
The sufferers also experienced debilitating pain in their
\nbones, leaving them unable to walk, the doctor said.<\/p>\n
\"Many sufferers have been reluctant to visit a doctor or the
\npublic health center because, besides economic concerns, the pain
\nonly lasts between one and two weeks,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Sudradjat said there had been no fatalities and the symptoms
\ndisappeared without medication after two weeks.<\/p>\n
Nining, 21, who has been suffering symptoms of the disease for
\nfour days, said she had been reluctant to visit the public health
\ncenter for fear of receiving a shot and the price of medicine.<\/p>\n
\"At first the symptoms are similar to dengue fever, but after
\nseveral days Chikungunya sufferers cannot walk. But after one
\nweek, they recover without any medication,\" she said, adding that
\nher parents had been affected by the disease but had already
\nrecovered.<\/p>\n
The chief of the local health office, Nono Tjahyono,
\nsaid his office, in cooperation with Cipto Mangunkusumo General
\nHospital in Jakarta, was studying the disease and would launch an
\nanti-Chikungunya campaign in all of the villages in the regency.<\/p>\n
\"We have delivered blood samples from several patients for
\nexamination in Jakarta, to determine the kind of endemic we are
\ndealing with and how the patients should be treated,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/mystery-disease-affects-230-in-bandung-area-1447893297",
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