Dengue outbreak kills dozens

Dengue outbreak kills dozens

PALEMBANG, South Sumatra: An outbreak of dengue in several
regions has killed 17 people and hospitalized 100 in the past
three months.

A spokesman from the provincial office of the Ministry of
Health told Antara on Thursday that the disease, caused by Aedes
Aegepty mosquitos, spread in the municipality of Palembang and
the regencies of Ogan Komering Ilir and Musi Banyuasin.

Dr. Azhari, however, said the number of fatalities has not yet
reached a point where it can be considered a "disaster". Dengue
outbreaks in previous years affected and killed more people, he
said, without specifying any number.

The health office has successfully curbed the spread of the
disease by deploying health workers to the stricken areas, he
said.

An outbreak of dengue has also taken place in Bangkalan
regency, East Java, killing two people. Of the 39 hospitalized
for dengue in the Dr. Soetomo General Hospital in Surabaya this
month, most were children.

The number of both patients and fatalities, however, could be
higher as there were unrecorded cases in remote places, Antara
reported.

Hospital director Dr. Achmad Furqon said dengue hits the
regency every year, and spreads mostly in the subdistricts of
Geger, Klampis and Kamal.

Given the fact that Bangkalan is a transit area for traffic
connecting the regencies of Sumenep and Sampang, respectively on
the islands of Java and Madura, it's possible that the dengue
outbreak was "imported", Furqon said. (swe)