Coxsackie virus causes panic

Coxsackie virus causes panic

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan: Coxsackie, a virus related to
poliomyelitis, has caused locals to panic especially after the
rumored death of a child last week, Antara reported yesterday.

Local health authorities have denied the rumor.

"No single baby or child below five years old has died
because of coxsackie virus, and the death of a child in Sudarso
Hospital last Saturday was not caused by the virus," the
provincial health director H.M. Torisz said.

The rumor was triggered by news that the virus had claimed
lives in Sarawak, the Malaysian state bordering West Kalimantan.

Torsiz said the health department would send a team to
villages in Entikong and other border areas to find out whether
locals had caught the virus.