Dengue claims more lives in some regions

Apriadi Gunawan and Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Medan/Samarinda

The dengue fever epidemic has claimed more lives in several parts of the country, despite reports that the number of cases was declining.

North Sumatra health office head Fatni Sulani said on Wednesday at least two more children died of dengue fever within the past month, while another was nursed back to health despite his critical condition.

The two victims, from Asahan regency, North Sumatra, were the first casualties recorded in 2004, she said.

At least 24 dengue patients died last year in the province when the disease affected 951 people there. Most of the deaths were recorded between September and October.

The two latest victims died four days after being treated at Vita Insani hospital in Pematang Siantar earlier this month for fever.

Fatni said that dengue was endemic in Asahan.

She admitted that her office had no precise data on the number of dengue fever victims infected in the province in 2004. However, she believes that this year's epidemic is not as severe as 2003 although it is prevalent in many areas across the province.

Fatni said the health office was taking precautionary action to reduce the number of victims, including providing free fumigation in residential areas.

Health offices in several districts have been asked to tell locals how to prevent the spread of dengue fever.

In East Kalimantan, at least 15 people died as a result of dengue between 2003 and March this year, officials said on Wednesday. They were among 983 patients hospitalized in the province.

In January and February, only eight of at least 404 sufferers died.

Reports received from districts across East Kalimantan show that the biggest number of those infected were reported in Samarinda municipality, where five out of 267 patients died.

The latest data from the provincial health office shows that during the month of March, seven more victims died, bring the death toll to 15.

Endro Buono, head of the disease prevention and eradication unit at the East Kalimantan health office, said that looking at the trend, it was possible that the number of patients would increase until the end of this month.

The dengue cases would probably drop in April, when rainfall decreased, he said.

Endro said the areas most prone to the disease were Bontang, Kutai Kertanegara, Balikpapan, North Penajam Pasir, East Kutai, Pasir, West Kutai and Nunukan.

Densely populated places such as urban centers are more prone to the mosquito-borne disease compared to village areas, he said.

But he is optimistic that the number of dengue fever victims would drop as most health workers have been trained and hospitals equipped to deal with such emergencies.

Endro said there was no need to declare the dengue endemic an extraordinary occurrence in East Kalimantan, citing the decrease in the number of cases and deaths in the last few years.