Dengue fever kills 165

SEMARANG: Dengue fever has killed at least 165 and sent 7,500 people to hospital between January and September this year, a health official said Saturday.

The number of dengue victims is higher than during the same period last year, when 122 people died and another 5,527 were hospitalized, chief of the Central Java health office Sudibyo Yuwono said.

The areas most vulnerable to the deadly disease are the 14 regencies in low areas along the province's northern coast.

The local government has spent Rp 184 million (US$78,000) to control the disease, Yuwono said. (har)