Dengue fever still high in C. Java

SEMARANG, Central Java: Dengue fever is currently endemic in 33 of Central Java's 35 regencies and municipalities despite declining fatalities over the past five years.

Krishnajaya, head of the provincial health office, said in Semarang on Monday most of the areas with endemic dengue fever were located near the province's northern coastal areas.

In 1998, were 9,694 cases reported with 228 deaths, followed by 5,230 with 74 deaths in 1999, 6,204 with 81 deaths in 2000, 7,779 with 110 deaths in 2001 and 5,732 in 2002 with 76 deaths.

To anticipate a larger outbreak, the local health office has distributed circulars to local citizens as a warning and guidance against aedes aegypti mosquitoes transmitting the disease and distributed insecticide for eradication. --Antara