Dengue fever still clear and present danger

Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Samarinda, East Kalimantan

The dengue fever epidemic that struck the nation three months ago remains a clear and present danger in some areas in Indonesia.

Sugiyanto, an official at the health office of East Kalimantan provincial government, said that a state of emergency had been imposed in the province as of Tuesday, as the number of people with dengue fever had reached an alarming level.

As of Friday last week, a total of 1,028 people in the province had been hospitalized with dengue fever since January. Eighteen of them have died.

"In the same period last year, 1,951 people contracted dengue fever, 31 of them died. Although the number of people with dengue this year has decreased compared to the last year's figure, it is still a formidable threat in the province," he said on Tuesday.

In the province, most dengue cases were found in three major cities here, namely Samarinda, the capital of the province, Bontang and Balikpapan.

Sugianto said that the East Kalimantan provincial government would intensify efforts to combat the dengue outbreak in the province through fogging and information campaigns on the prevention of the disease. The government would also order more abate powder from private companies in Jakarta. The powder is sprinkled on still water that could be a potential breeding place of the aedes aegypti mosquito, the carrier of dengue fever.

Many dengue fever patients have been treated at hospitals in the East Kalimantan province since it hit the province three months ago, but others have been permitted to go home.

In Wahab Syahrani Hospital in the province, for example, only 10 people were treated last week for dengue fever. Six of them were permitted to return home on Tuesday.

Separately in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province, five more people were admitted to hospital with dengue fever, bringing the number of people affected by the disease to 110 since January this year.

"Two are in Aceh Tamiang and the other three in West Aceh regency," Mulya Hasjimy, the head of health office at the Aceh provincial administration, was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.

In 2002 91 people contracted dengue in 2002 and 128 people in 2003 in Aceh. Four of them died. Only two provinces in Indonesia have been declared dengue-free, namely South Sumatra and North Sulawesi provinces.

Separately in East Java province, the Banyuwangi regency government has earmarked Rp 210 million (US$26,250) to help prevent the spread of dengue fever in the area. The fund will be used to finance mass fumigation in the area.

A total of 62 local residents have contracted dengue fever since January this year in Banyuwangi, 13 of whom are still being treated at hospitals there.