Hospitals busy as dengue on the rise

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)