Dengue fever outbreak hits W. Kalimantan, 18 dead

Bambang Bider, The Jakarta Post, Pontianak

While the nation is waging a war against terrorism, people in the West Kalimantan capital of Pontianak are fighting a dengue fever outbreak that so far has claimed 18 lives.

Medical officials expect a prolonged battle against the disease now that the rainy season is approaching.

A total 1,140 dengue fever cases have been discovered in the area over the past 10 months, with a sharp increase in the first week of November with 82 cases.

"To anticipate the worst, we are continuing to carry out a fogging program to eliminate mosquitoes," a Pontianak health official, Kodasi, said.

He called on people in the city to keep their environment clean to prevent the aedes mosquitoes, which carry dengue fever, from multiplying.

The city's health office has said that a lack of funds has left it unprepared to cope with a dengue fever outbreak of this scale, due in part to an absence of financial assistance from the provincial administration.

The head of Communicable Diseases and Environmental Health at the West Kalimantan Provincial Health Office, Budianto, said the provincial administration had not yet disbursed Rp 200 million (US$22,200) to help Pontianak fight the outbreak. He did not give a reason for the delay.

"The Pontianak administration must temporarily rely on their own funds and facilities," he said.

But, Budianto said, the provincial health office would continue its fogging program across the province.

"Currently we are fogging Kota Baru in West Pontianak," he said.

Meanwhile, in Singkawang, Bengkayang regency, West Kalimantan, 69 dengue fever sufferers are being treated at the Abdul Aziz Hospital.

The hospital has provided extra beds to anticipate an increase in the number of patients.

A hospital official, Titien, said the number of dengue fever cases in the area had risen sharply recently.

"An average of five patients are sent to this hospital every day with dengue fever," she said.

Budianto played down the dengue fever outbreak in Singkawang, saying the local government was able to deal with the matter on its own.

But he added that he had yet to receive a complete report on the spread of dengue fever in Singkawang.

In Samarinda, East Kalimantan, the health office suggested people in the province remain vigilant for dengue fever during the transition period from the dry to the rainy season.

"Dengue fever can occur in many places in the province, particularly Balikpapan, Kutai and Samarinda. But the number of cases will increase during the transition period between the seasons," the deputy head of the health office, Sugianto, said.

He called on regency and mayoralty administrations across the province to take all necessary steps to eliminate the mosquitoes.

"The best method is to use mosquito powder on water storage tanks, cover up the tanks and clean them twice a week, and bury unnecessary cans and such that can hold water," he said.

According to him, fogging is not the best method for eliminating mosquitoes as it only kills mature mosquitoes, not the larvae.

Last year at least 30 people in the province died of dengue fever, and the total number of cases rose sharply to over 1,200 from 700 in 2000.