Dengue death toll hits 166

Dengue death toll hits 166

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The death toll in the dengue fever outbreak has reached 166 from
the at least 8,135 people infected nationwide, as health
authorities are struggling to identify the virus responsible for
the rapid spread of the disease.

Director General of Communicable Diseases Umar Fahmi said a
government surveillance team had been conducting serotype tests
to determine the cause of the outbreak, which would enable the
government to find proper measures to contain the disease.

"The team is studying the possible existence of a new strain
of the dengue fever virus, which is different from the ones
responsible for the outbreak last year," Fahmi said.

The tests are being conducted at the Health Laboratory Center
(BLK) in four major cities in Indonesia: Jakarta, Palembang,
Surabaya and Makassar, and in university laboratories
countrywide.

Dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are caused by one of
four closely related, but antigenically distinct, virus serotypes
-- DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4 -- of the genus Flavivirus.

Infection with one of these serotypes does not provide cross-
protective immunity.

Doctors treating patients in several provinces across the
country believe a new, more virulent subvariant virus sparked
this year's outbreak.

The head of arbovirology at the Ministry of Health, Rita
Kusriastuti, said the possibility was there but it would take a
long time to prove the suspicion.

"It's like a complete mapping of the virus' genes. It would
take a long time to complete such a complicated test," Rita said.

She said the DEN-3 serotype was commonly found in previous
outbreaks and many people had become immune to the strain.

An internist at Dr. Soetomo General Hospital in Surabaya,
Nasronuddin, said different strains of the virus might be found
in different climates.

The government has officially declared the current outbreak of
dengue fever an "extraordinary occurrence".

Umar said the status required the government to pay extra
attention to the spread of the disease.

"We have prepared a number of hospitals across the country and
will treat dengue fever patients for free, especially in
Jakarta," he said.

Jakarta and East Java are the areas hardest hit by the dengue
fever outbreak, where infection cases account for half of the
national figure.

Dengue fever cases have shown an increasing trend over the
past four years, from 21,134 in 1999, 33,443 in 2000, 45,904 in
2001, 40,377 in 2002) to 50,131 in 2003.

Separately, the head of communicable diseases of the
Yogyakarta municipal health agency, Kuncoro Gunawan, said the
local government had alerted hundreds of community health centers
across the town to give priority to dengue fever patients.

The health agency has asked for Rp 1.6 billion (US$188,235) in
emergency funds to contain the disease.