Diarrhea outbreak in Bekasi claims 4 lives

Diarrhea outbreak in Bekasi claims 4 lives

JAKARTA (JP): At least four people died and more than 200 were
hospitalized due to an outbreak of diarrhea in the Bekasi area
east of Jakarta over the past week, a local administration source
said yesterday.

According to the official, the epidemic broke out in the
neighboring villages of Sriamur, Srimukti, Satria Mekar, and
Srijaya.

Most of the victims were reported to be between one and 15-
years-old.

Since the beginning of the outbreak more than a week ago until
Monday, the number of victims has risen to 175, with 28 more
reported hospitalized yesterday.

The official confirmed that the epidemic drastically surged
over the past week. To handle emergency assistance operations the
local administration has opened a round-the-clock service post
located in Sriamur village.

The administration is also providing healthy-living
information to the local population.

According to Dr. Erwan Hidayat, the head of the local health
office which is in charge of coping with the epidemic, the
disease is believed to have originated in contaminated food,
water and other beverages such as syrup consumed by the local
villagers.

Erwan said that the water used for the syrup might have been
unboiled. Most of the victims are reported to be children.

The four victims who were reported to have died were
identified as Bonih (15), Rosadi (3), Sani (60), and Neneng (15).
The death was reportedly caused by a lack of fluids in their
bodies. (01).