Govt warns of a new dengue fever virus

Govt warns of a new dengue fever virus

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Yogyakarta

The government has warned that a more virulent form of the dengue
fever virus may be responsible for the current outbreak that has
claimed at least 77 lives over the past month.

The director of communicable diseases at the Ministry of
Health, Umar Fahmi, said on Monday the new virus appeared to be a
more virulent strain due to the faster spread of the disease and
the larger number of deaths.

"We suspect the cause of the fever might be a new type of
virus, probably a combination of two different strains. We will
conduct research on the suspected new strain and announce the
results next week," said Umar.

According to data from the Ministry of Health, the death rate
from dengue fever this year has doubled from the same period last
year. There is no vaccine for dengue fever, which is transmitted
by the aedes aegypty mosquito.

The government has said the current dengue fever outbreak is a
five-year cycle of the disease on Java island. Health minister
Ahmad Sujudi said on Monday the cycle used to be more serious and
claim more lives.

Jakarta and East Java have been hardest hit by the new
outbreak, with over 3,000 cases and 54 deaths combined.

The fever has spread rapidly across the Greater Jakarta with
hospitals receiving patients not only from Jakarta, but also from
Depok and Bekasi in the neighboring province of West Java.

Sujudi said the high number of deaths was largely the result
of patients not receiving treatment in a timely manner.

The minister said the government was providing doctors with
training on how to identify dengue fever. He also urged doctors
to quickly order a blood test for patients with a high fever.

The government has ordered hospitals across the country to
provide immediate care for dengue fever patients, including the
poor.

"The poor can use the health cards given to them by the
government to receive care. The government will take the funds
from the fuel subsidy," said the minister.

Umar Fahmi added that the government would deploy family
planning field workers to approximately 10,000 villages across
the country to help disseminate information on how to prevent
dengue fever.

However, Sujudi said his ministry had only received Rp 10
billion (US$1.2 million) to contain the spread of the disease,
adding that he would request additional funding.

In Yogyakarta, the local health agency has found 301 dengue
fever cases, with 13 deaths, over the past two month. Yogyakarta
mayoralty has been hardest hit with 150 cases, followed by Bantul
regency with 67 and Kulonprogo regency with 50.

Sleman Regent Ibnu Subiyanto said his administration had
released Rp 1.5 billion in emergency funds to contain the
outbreak. The regency has registered 34 dengue fever cases, with
seven deaths.

"This is a very serious emergency because we have had seven
deaths in only two weeks. So, we released the emergency funds
immediately," Ibnu said.

The head of communicable diseases at the Bantul Health Agency,
Aries Suranto, warned that the number of cases could double or
even triple this year.

Provincial health agency head Choirul Anwar said that more
needed to be done to eliminate mosquito larvae in Yogyakarta.

Number of dengue fever cases in Indonesia
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Location Number of cases Deaths
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West Java
(Indramayu, Depok, Bogor) 710 10
East Java 1,189 38
Yogyakarta 301 13
Jakarta 2,046 16
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Source: Ministry of Health