Dengue fever continues to spread

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Dengue fever continues to spread across the country while the government claims that the disease has had no impact on the country's tourist industry.

A two-year old child, Maulana, died of dengue fever on Monday at the Dr. M. Djamil General Hospital in Padang, West Sumatra, while 14 others are still being treated at the hospital.

Although the central government had told hospitals not to charge dengue fever patients, Maulana's parents had to spend Rp 94,000 (US$11) for their baby's medicine, Antara reported.

In Bengkulu, a 22-year old man, Ikhsan, died at Manna General hospital on Sunday evening after being treated for almost three days while 47 patients are still being treated in the hospital.

Dengue cases were also on the rise in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, where 36 people were taken to the hospital in the first week of March alone, compared to 61 in January and February.

In Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan, the disease has spread to 13 mayoralties and regencies across South Kalimantan, killing at least one person so far.

Meanwhile, the West Java Health Agency revealed on Monday that 87 people had died and 6,668 had contracted dengue fever since the outbreak started in the province three months ago.

Indrmayu Regent Indriyanto Irianto MS Syaifuiddin promised to take action against doctors and hospitals who were negligent.

"I heard of a patient who died without receiving any treatment from doctors. I will suspend them if they are found to have neglected dengue patients," Indriyanto told reporters on Monday.

A 11-year-old girl, Eni Saeni, allegedly died at the Indramayu Hospital on Friday without receiving any medical treatment.

Rita Kusriastuti, an official with the Ministry of Health research department, said on Monday that 30 of the country's 32 provinces had reported cases of dengue fever.

"At the moment, our main goal is to handle all the incoming patients and to ensure that they do not die," she told AFP.

Kusriastuti declined to give an exact figure for Monday's death toll but said that more than 390 people had died and more than 26,000 others across the archipelago had been affected by the virus since Jan. 1.

Separately, tourism minister I Gede Ardika said that dengue fever had not affected foreign tourist arrivals in the country.

"Until now, I have not received information about foreign tourists postponing their visit to Indonesia for fear of catching the disease," he said on Monday after a meeting with a delegation from Madagascar's Culture and Tourism Ministry.

Learning from last year's Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic, Ardika said, the government would continue to do its best to provide foreign tourists with clear and transparent information about the disease.