Hospitals busy as dengue on the rise

Dyah Apsari, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Three-year-old Abdulah Karim Sidik lay weakly on a hospital bed, accompanied by his mother, in the city-run Pasar Rebo Hospital, Cijantung, Jakarta.

With tears in her eyes, his mother Aminah told The Jakarta Post that she had taken her son to the hospital after he had spent four days suffering from a high temperature and vomiting.

"He was first diagnosed with a chest ailment and sent home. But since I started to give him the medicine, he has been sleeping for more than 48 hours non-stop, though his fever starting showing signs of abating," said Aminah, who lives in Bhaktijaya village, East Jakarta.

However, her son's fever rose again and he started raving in his sleep.

"I panicked, and called a shaman who lives nearby as I thought he was possessed by a spirit.

"The next day, his fever still had not subsided. I was really terrified, so I brought him to a private hospital. A blood test showed that he had dengue fever," Aminah recalled.

Another patient, Don Karmalos, 12, has been off school for about two weeks since he was diagnosed with dengue fever.

"Our local doctor told us to take him to this hospital, but the problem remains, and he still refuses to eat," said his mother.

With dengue fever on the rise over the last two weeks, the Pasar Rebo hospital alone was treating a total of 30 inpatients with dengue, including nine children, on Thursday.

Hospital spokesman Deddy Suryadi said that 13 inpatients had been hospitalized since July.

"To prepare for an increase in the number of dengue fever patients, we are providing 40 additional beds for patients in Class III rooms," Deddy said, adding that patients in Class III rooms would automatically receive free treatment.

Currently, five male patients are sleeping in the corridors outside the wards on the seventh floor.

The hospital's medical services manager Ellen Sianipar said that should overcrowding occur, the hospital would temporarily hire additional doctors, and extra nurses from a nearby nursing academy.

"The hospital is ready to provide treatment in Class I, II and III wards. We have about seven years of experience in handling dengue fever. We have also forged networks with other hospitals and coordinate with the Jakarta Health Agency for the purpose of transferring patients to other hospitals," said Ellen, who also chairs the hospital's special dengue fever team.

Another city-owned hospital, the Tarakan Hospital in Central Jakarta, had admitted a total of 26 inpatients for dengue, including eight children, on Thursday.

"The hospital is ready to help dengue fever patients and we are also ready to provide medicine," the hospital's nursing director, Atiyah, told the Post.

She added that the hospital has prepared 50 additional beds fearing an increase in the number of dengue patients.

Ellen, of the Pasar Rebo Hospital, said that although the number of patients was likely to increase, the situation was not at present considered to be an emergency.

"It only becomes an emergency if 15 to 20 new cases are being admitted each day. Currently, we have not reached that number yet," said Ellen, adding that the Jakarta Health Agency was the institution authorized to declare an emergency.

Jakarta Health Agency spokeswoman Zelfino said that the city administration was conducting surveillance in all hospitals throughout the city, and was carrying out fumigation and checking for the appearance of Aedes Aegypti larvae in stagnant pools and puddles.

"We have also opened a hotline -- 3483-5118 -- to handle incoming reports of cases," said Zelfino. (004)