Leptospirosis death toll up to 13, denied by agency

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Three more people succumbed to the fatal post-flood disease leptospirosis, bringing the death toll to 13, even though the City Health Agency claimed that the figure was lower.

Staff at the city-run Tarakan Hospital on Jl. Kyai Caringin, Central Jakarta, said that the three people died since Monday.

"One of them died just last night," one staff member, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday.

Despite the hospital statement, the agency's emergency division chief, Sri Henni Setyowati, maintained that the true number of the fatalities was only 10, pointing to agency statistics since March 5.

Most of the dead were elderly people.

So far, the increasing number of dead does not seem to have prompted the agency to handle the problem more seriously.

Henni only urged the people to stay alert over leptospirosis, which emerged after the floods, telling residents to keep healthy and adhere to clean hygienic practices.

"People must stay alert for the disease, moreover, as the mortality rate is increasing, reaching 20 percent," she told reporters at the City Hall.

Governor Sutiyoso announced earlier that leptospirosis sufferers would receive free medical treatment at city-owned hospitals, including the Tarakan Hospital, Pasar Rebo Hospital in East Jakarta, and Koja Hospital in North Jakarta.

Henni said that the free treatment for leptospirosis patients would be financed by the agency's post-flood fund of Rp 4.3 billion (US$430,000) from the 2002 City Budget.

Sutiyoso had ordered the agency to take firm action against the disease but, until today, there have been no clear measures.

The agency has only called on people to keep their neighborhoods clean.

Residents took the initiative to kill rats in their neighborhoods. The neighborhood chiefs even offered between Rp 1,000 and Rp 3,000 for each rat killed by residents.

Sutiyoso had said that the administration did not allocate funds to finance the rat hunting.

The disease spread after rats' habitats were deluged by the massive floods of January and February. Specifically, the urine of rats contaminated water supplies and garbage which had piled up during the floods.

The leptospire bacteria enters a human body through wounded skin, and causes symptoms including high fever and vomiting.