Chikungunya spreads in West Lombok

Chikungunya epidemic has struck at least two subdistricts in West Lombok regency in the past week, infecting and paralyzing dozens of residents in the area.

Thamrin Hijaz, a senior official at the West Lombok Health Office, said on Wednesday that 48 people in Gunung Sari subdistrict and 55 others in the neighboring subdistrict of Belencong had been infected with the virus. "The disease is not lethal. Infected people may see their health improve in two or three days, but it could be as long as 10 days before there is any improvement. All depends on the patient's stamina," said Thamrin.

Chikungunya, like dengue fever, is contracted through a mosquito bite and is characterized by an extremely high fever, but differs in its symptom of severe joint pain (arthralgia) that lasts for up to a week.

The disease was first recognized in epidemic form in East Africa in 1952, while in Indonesia, the disease was first reported in 1973 in Samarinda, East Kalimantan.

Its name comes from the Swahili word chikungunya, which means "that which contorts or bends up", referring to the contorted posture of patients afflicted with the disease's predominant symptom of arthralgia. -- JP