Dengue fever still clear and present danger

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.