29 die in dengue outbreak

JAKARTA (JP): Twenty nine people have died and more than 2,000 others have been hospitalized in an outbreak of dengue fever throughout the city over the past six months, a senior official said yesterday.

Chief of the city health office Aslan Lasman warned that the epidemic in the five mayoralties has shown no indication of abating in the foreseeable future.

West Jakarta is the worst hit, where six of the 527 affected people have died, he told journalists at his office.

Other affected areas include Palmerah in Central Jakarta, Tomang and Kemanggisan in West Jakarta and Kapuk in North Jakarta.

The disease, transmitted by aedes aegepty mosquitoes, has killed at least seven people in the South Jakarta mayoralty, two in North Jakarta, six in Central Jakarta and eight in East Jakarta.

The number of people hospitalized has reached 510 in South Jakarta, 279 in North Jakarta, 412 in Central Jakarta and 430 in East Jakarta.

According to Aslan, the number of affected people was a lot higher than that in the same period last year, when health authorities listed 1,400 patients and 21 fatalities.

The city heath office called for city residents to improve cleanliness. Aslan said the ongoing fight against dengue fever is focused on 82 subdistricts throughout Jakarta. (32)