Dengue cases soar in nine provinces
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Nine additional provinces have almost reached the status of extraordinary occurrence in regards the dengue fever outbreak, as the number of new cases has continued to rise, the Ministry of Health says.
The ministry also announced on Friday that recent research had found no new strains of the dengue virus, as was feared earlier.
The nine afflicted provinces are: West and South Sumatra, Riau, Bengkulu, Lampung, East and Central Kalimantan, North Sulawesi and Papua.
In Bengkulu, the number of cases has increased drastically to 61 this month from 14 in February, while the highest case fatality rate (CFR) was recorded in North Sulawesi at 4.2 percent.
Provincial health officers in the affected areas are meeting in Jakarta to coordinate their fight against the mosquito-borne disease.
Director of Communicable Diseases Umar Fahmi Achmadi at the health ministry said local governments should be proactive in consulting and requesting the central government's assistance in handling the outbreak.
On Feb. 16, extraordinary occurrence was declared in 12 provinces, including all provinces in Java, as the number of dengue cases had doubled compared to the same period last year and the CFR had passed one percent. The government has issued a directive to all hospitals and public health centers to admit dengue patients and is covering all related medical costs.
So far, Rp 500 billion (US$58 million) has been disbursed in state emergency funds to handle the national outbreak, with a specific focus on the 12 provinces declared "extraordinary".
In a related development, Umar said a recent laboratory sero- survey of 283 blood samples from dengue patients in 10 Jakarta hospitals showed negative signs of a new dengue strain.
He conceded, however, that the virus was changing from a DEN-1 to DEN-3 serotype.
Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever are caused by one of four closely related, but antigenically distinct, viral serotypes -- DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4. The most virulent is DEN-3.
"About two-thirds of the samples were infected with DEN-3, and the rest with DEN-1 and DEN-2," said Umar.
A patient who recovers from dengue fever develops life-long immunity against the particular serotype that caused the infection. A secondary infection by another serotype is usually more severe, inducing shock and raising the risk of fatality.
Umar said 65 percent of samples indicated secondary infections.
Similar surveys have been conducted in Palembang and Surabaya, but the results are yet to be publicized.
Latest data shows that 39,938 people have contracted dengue fever nationwide, 498 people have died and the CFR is 1.25 percent.
"At the national level, the dengue fever is subsiding, but we must remain vigilant," he said.