Four die in dengue outbreak

Four die in dengue outbreak

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan: Four people have died and more than 190 others hospitalized in a dengue epidemic which broke out in January, a local official said yesterday.

Achmad Tantawi, the chief of the provincial health office, said that the Samarinda and Balikpapan municipalities were worst hit by the disease. People in Kutai, Pasir, Bulungan and Berau are also affected.

Three of the four fatalities occurred in Samarinda, with the fourth in Balikpapan, he was quoted by the Antara news agency.

He said that cases of dengue fever, which is spread by aedes aegepty mosquitoes has been increasing in East Kalimantan over the past two years.

Official statistics show that 409 people in the province contracted dengue fever last year, 13 of whom died. (pan)