Flood-related illnesses kill 15 in capital city
Flood-related illnesses kill 15 in capital city
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The death toll of flood victims killed by diarrhea and other
flood-related ailments around the city increased to at least 15
on Wednesday amid public ignorance about the illnesses.
Data from the city health agency revealed that since Jan. 28,
diarrhea-related illnesses had killed 11 children and babies
while the rest died of dengue hemorrhagic fever and upper
respiratory infections.
Most of them died after being admitted to the hospital in
critical condition.
There are at least 750 flood victims still being treated at
several hospitals around the city, mostly at the Tarakan public
hospital in Central Jakarta.
One of the fatalities included a 10-month old baby from
Tambora in West Jakarta.
"We did not know that Kemala (the baby) had diarrhea. She
seemed okay," said a relative.
Kemala had been in a shelter for about four days. Her mother
took her to a health post because she looked very pale, and the
staff instructed her to take Kemala to Tarakan hospital. Doctors,
however, could not do much due to the advanced stage of her
illness.
Flood victims in Tambora said that neither the subdistrict
office nor the city health agency had warned them about the
possible symptoms of various flood-related illnesses.
Eti, a resident of Kebun Jeruk, also in West Jakarta, said the
same thing.
"I brought my baby to a health post because he had no appetite
for several days. But the doctor there just told me to take him
to the hospital," she said.
Her five-month-old son was being treated at the Tarakan
hospital for diarrhea.
"I dropped out of elementary school, I don't know anything
about health," she said.
Dr. Soekirman Soekin, the director of Tarakan hospital
admitted that the families of most patients were ignorant of the
diseases that they are prone to, so they failed to get medical
treatment to the patients immediately.
On Wednesday afternoon, the hospital was treating 212
patients, 108 of which are believed to be flood victims.
"The fact is that diarrhea is widespread, even among those who
were not flooded out of their homes," he told The Jakarta Post,
and added that there was a possibility of a dengue fever
outbreak.
Dr. Abdul Chalik Masulili, the head of the city health agency,
also warned about the epidemic.
"Besides diarrhea, we are now facing a possible dengue
hemorrhagic fever outbreak as it has claimed two victims in West
Jakarta," he said.
The fever is carried by aedes aegypty mosquitoes, which lay
their eggs on the surface of still water and are day biters.
Even before the floods, Jakarta was already prone to dengue.
Masulili also acknowledged the public ignorance of various
diseases that had resulted in the death of some patients.
But he denied the agency had failed to inform the public about
possible diseases following the flood, saying that the health
agency had warned the public through the 324 health centers here
since November last year.
"We have also informed the people through the mass media
recently," he told the Post.
Masulili admitted that the total of 265 doctors at the agency
was not sufficient to serve all the flood victims here and called
on retired doctors as well as junior doctors to help them.
The private Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) as well as
some individual doctors had assisted by providing medical
treatment for the flood victims.
The agency deputy head, Dr. Henny Poerwonegoro, said that he
had attempted to prevent contagious diseases by spraying
disinfectant in public restrooms, chlorinating wells and giving
oralit (a rehydration drink) to each neighborhood here.