New dengue virus strain identified

Slamet Susanto and Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post/Yogyakarta/Semarang

A laboratory in Yogyakarta has identified a new strain of the dengue virus that is far deadly and has a shorter incubation period than the regular strain of the virus.

It is the third strain of the virus.

"While it previously took four to five days for spots on the skin to appear, it now takes only one day," said Bantul health office head Abu Dzarin Noorhadi, referring to the incubation period.

Two deaths from the new strain were reported in November.

"The two people were admitted to the hospital in the late stages of illness, which led to their deaths," said Abu Dzarin. Two other people from Bantul have died due to dengue fever this year.

Since discovery of the new dengue strain, the health office has called on residents to clean up places that could be breeding grounds for the dengue virus carrier, the aedes aegypti mosquito.

Separately, Yogyakarta provincial health office head Bondan Agus Suryanto said that up until November, some 550 people in the province had contracted dengue and six had died. Four were in Bantul regency and the other two were in Gunungkidul.

In Semarang, Central Java, Ike Aprila, 4, died on Friday after being treated for one day in Elisabeth Hospital. With Ike's death, dengue fatalities in the province this year rose to 21.