16 die of dengue fever in Palu

PALU, Central Sulawesi: At least 16 out of 486 people who contracted dengue fever here last year died as a result of the disease, Antara reported on Monday.

The head of the local health agency office, Muslimah L. Gadi, said late treatment of the disease contributed to the deaths.

Muslimah said that figures of 16 fatalities and 486 sufferers were a substantial increase on 1997, when only three deaths resulted from a small number of cases.

Muslimah said one reason for the increase was last year's high rainfall, which created favorable breeding conditions for the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is the vector for the disease.

Officials here have stepped up a campaign to encourage residents to take measures to control the mosquito and transmission of the disease.

There were no reports of further infections in December, Muslimah added.