Dysentery claims two lives in East Nusa Tenggara, dozens ill
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang
At least two people have died and 64 others are receiving medical treatment due to an outbreak of dysentery in Nangahale village, Talibura district in Sikka regency, East Nusa Tenggara in the past week.
The victims might have consumed water contaminated with human feces and E-coli bacteria as a result of the prolonged drought, local health officials said on Monday.
Sikka health office head Henyo Kerong said that his office has established health posts to help prevent the spread of the disease, while taking care of the afflicted in nearby community health centers and hospitals.
According to him, the dysentery outbreak intensified last week, and within a period of just a few days it claimed the lives of two patients, identified as Mustahir, 29, and Genoveva, 31.
"They lost a lot of fluids as they did not receive treatment in time," Henyo said.
Most of the 64 being treated are toddlers and children below the age of 10 years including a nine-month-old infant.
Henyo said that besides consuming contaminated water, the victims were most probably infected due to the poor hygiene in the affected village.
"As a preventive measure, medical teams have calcified at least 100 underground wells that may have been contaminated with feces and e-coli bacteria," he said.
Last week, at least 26 people, mostly toddlers, died and more than 200 others fell sick in an outbreak of measles on the remote island of Alor in East Nusa Tenggara.
Alor Regent Ans Takalapeta said on Monday that to prevent the disease from spreading further, his administration has formed command posts and reinforced medical personnel, including three doctors specially assigned from Jakarta by Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari.
He said that as many as 223 children have been provided with free medicine and 53 others vaccinated.
The government has also distributed 400 food supplement packages to restore the stamina of toddlers and children with measles, the regent added.