Dengue fever claims three more, officials tell public not to panic

JAKARTA (JP): Health officials revealed on Monday that more people in the capital had been infected with dengue hemorrhagic fever while asking residents not to panic as everything was still under control.

An official at the city's health agency disclosed that three more people afflicted by the fever had died, bringing to 10 the number of fatalities so far.

"We have recorded a total of 1,526 cases so far this year," head of agency's animal-related diseases section Tini Suryanti told reporters at her office.

Worrying that the disease might spread further, her office held a meeting on Saturday with all the heads of hospitals located in Greater Jakarta in an attempt to strictly monitor the development of dengue fever patients in the capital and coordinate efforts to overcome the problem.

"We asked hospital heads to inform the agency promptly on any new dengue fever patients admitted to their hospitals," Tini said.

Based on previous standard procedures, hospitals had to report such cases on a daily basis.

According to available data, the city recorded over 15,000 cases in 1998 with 133 fatalities. Last year, the number of cases totaled 3,751 with 45 people dead.

Among the hospitals that have been inundated by dengue fever patients is Pasar Rebo Hospital in East Jakarta.

The hospital's director, Umar Wahid, said the management had resorted to placing patients in the corridors as the wards were overflowing.

"The patients outnumbered the hospital's capacity, especially those who are being treated in third class," Umar, who is President Abdurrahman Wahid's brother, told The Jakarta Post.

But, he said, city residents need not be worried or panicked about what was happening at his hospital.

According to him, the patients were at the hospital merely due to the hospital decision's not to reject any dengue fever patients.

"Everything is still under control.

"We have enough blood and medicine supplies, as well as medical personnel," he said.

So far, the hospital has treated some 55 dengue patients.

"The number of dengue cases is not as high as in 1998 when the capital had its worst outbreak," he added.

Most of the patients being treated at the hospital were residents living nearby and mostly of the lower income bracket, Umar explained.

The doctor recalled that some of the patients came to the hospital in a panic, thinking they were infected by the deadly disease.

He said most of the patients that rushed to the hospital were suffering from a light fever, indicating that they were at the early stages of the infection.

Umar praised the attitude of the local residents in reacting immediately.

"(Under such conditions), it's not necessary to give the patients blood transfusions, only to provide them with additional fluids. That's enough," he said.

Health officials have repeatedly asked the public to help prevent the possible outbreak by cutting the life cycle of the aedes aegypty mosquito, which carries the fever virus.

"Residents must remember to avoid the presence of clean and still water where the mosquito lays its eggs. We must always close, periodically clean or bury water containers," head of the city's health agency, Achmad Harjadi, said.

In Central Jakarta, health officials have named at least 10 subdistricts as the most dengue fever-prone areas in the mayoralty.

The head of the control and eradication subdivision of the local health office, Paripurna, identified the 10 spots as Karang Anyar, Kemayoran, Serdang, Cempaka Baru, Utan Panjang, Paseban, Cempaka Putih Timur, Kampung Rawa, Cikini and Bendungan Hilir.

"The conditions there are the worst," he said.

The number of people suffering from dengue fever in those areas in January and February this year alone has reached 161 cases, which is three times higher than the 46 cases in the same period last year.

"Out efforts to help eradicate the fever failed because residents did not cooperate with us. They, for instance, did not want to open their doors and windows for the health employees to fumigate.

Most of them only asked our personnel to fumigate the hedges in front of their houses," Paripurna said.

Interviewed earlier on Sunday, several residents told The Jakarta Post that they have yet to make necessary preparations for a possible outbreak of the fever although they realized that the number of sufferers increases from day to day.

According to them, they would wait until their local authorities instructed them to carry out sanitary activities, popularly known as the "3M Movement", by scrubbing household water tanks, buckets, vases, water reservoirs and burying unused cans.

A resident of Pegangsaan subdistrict, Rosidi, said people in his neighborhood were accustomed to cleaning their households themselves.

"Moreover, we do not have enough space to bury unused materials. So far, no one has been afflicted by the fever," he said.

A similar comment was made by Rozali, head of a neighborhood association at Kalipasir subdistrict.

"No instruction has been issued by the subdistrict authority yet, but we have routinely and voluntarily cleaned our neighborhood although it is not included in the '3M Movement'," he said.

Experts had repeatedly said that the 3M movement was the most effective way of eradicating dengue fever as it would end the mosquito's life cycle.

"Meanwhile, fumigating will only kill adult mosquitoes. Their eggs still carry the dengue virus," said Endang Suryatno, spokeswoman of St. Carolus Hospital in Central Jakarta.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has predicted that the peak will occur in April. (09/06/nvn/ind)