Flood fever infecting Jakartans

Flood fever infecting Jakartans

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

Laying helplessly in a third-class ward for more than a week at
Tarakan hospital in West Jakarta, Usman, 42, has been struggling
with a serious illness, one he still knows nothing about.

"The doctor took me off the intravenous (IV) drip. I hope I
can go home soon," said the employee of an auto repair shop in
Sunter, North Jakarta.

Usman is one of several patients recently hospitalized in
Jakarta for leptospirosis, a little known contagious disease
caused by Leptospira interrogans, a bacterium transmitted through
the urine of rats and domestic animals.

Infected people display various symptoms, including a
prolonged fever, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, eye inflammation
and in more severe cases liver damage and jaundice.

"I don't understand this disease. All I know is that I threw
up blood over and over again, had severe diarrhea with blood. My
sight faded and my ears hurt and I heard a prolonged, very loud
ringing sound. Not to mention the pain I felt from head to toe,"
said Usman.

At first Usman, who lives along a densely populated lane in a
squalid neighborhood in Gelora, Central Jakarta, thought that the
cause of his illness was a lack of nutrients and too much work.
He went to two local clinics, both of which gave him drugs to
treat the vomiting and diarrhea. Another doctor later asked him
to have his blood checked at a hospital. He did so and was
immediately hospitalized.

Leptospirosis, also called "flood fever", is often
misdiagnosed due to the similarity of its symptoms, in early
stages, with the common flu.

The number of reported cases over the last year in the capital
stands at 44, four of which have been fatal.

"We have been conducting public awareness campaigns on how to
prevent endemic diseases, such as dengue fever and leptospirosis,
since the second week of December by handing out calendars and
brochures across the city," Evi Zelfino, spokesperson of the
Jakarta health agency, told The Jakarta Post.

Public events have been held every Friday in various public
places, such as Thamrin, the National Monument, Senen and
Harmoni, all in Central Jakarta.

In coordination with hospitals, the agency is putting up
posters to increase awareness in hospital emergency rooms.

"However, the language used in the poster is highly technical
in nature ... people often have to ask hospital staff to explain
it," said Cici, a hospital employee.