Dengue fever afflicts Tangerang

TANGERANG: Since January this year, 20 residents of Tangerang municipality have suffered from dengue fever and received medical treatment at local hospitals, the municipal health agency chief revealed on Tuesday.

Agency chief Nur Iman Machyudin called on residents to be more careful and keep their immediate environment clean in order to guard against the virus that causes the disease.

He said the actual number of residents who had been afflicted totaled more than 20, since many victims had also been treated at hospitals in Jakarta.

He said dengue fever would reach its peak season in May, and that the number of victims would increase if residents neglected their hygiene.

"We are now facing the transitional period from the rainy to dry season, and mosquitoes that spread the virus could breed rapidly if we don't keep those areas in our houses, where mosquitoes usually congregate, clean," he said.

He added that the patients suffering the disease ranged from 10-year-olds to 45-year-olds. Pabuaran Tumpeng and Karawaci Baru subdistricts suffered the greatest number of residents afflicted by the disease. -- JP