Gunung Kidul prone to dengue epidemics

YOGYAKARTA: At least 17 of 114 villages in the Gunung Kidul regency are prone to dengue fever epidemics, says a local official.

"The villages that are prone to the epidemics are located in water-rich subdistricts in the regency while the dengue fever has rarely hit subdistricts lacking clean water," Wahyudi, chief of the Gunung Kidul health ministry office, said when launching an anti-dengue campaign in Wonosari on Wednesday.

He said the campaign would be conducted not only in the villages prone to the epidemics but also in schools in the regency because the illness had frequently struck elementary and junior high school students.

This year, the local administration has recorded 78 dengue cases that have claimed five lives.

"During the week-long campaign, local people and students will be asked to keep their surroundings, including their houses, clean and to spray their surroundings to prevent aedis Aegypty mosquitoes from transmitting the disease," he said. --Antara