New strains of diseases invades Southeast Asian

New strains of diseases invades Southeast Asian

JAKARTA (JP): The emergence of at least 30 new strains of
infectious diseases in Southeast Asia in the past decade is
placing the region at increased risk for a major outbreak,
Minister of Health and Social Welfare Ahmad Sujudi said on
Thursday.

"Such Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) have the potential
to create an intense outbreak in a very short time," Ahmad said
in a media briefing on Regional Action Conference for
Surveillance and Response to Infectious Disease Outbreak in
Southeast Asia.

Among the new strains of infectious diseases found in
Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries are Cholera 0139,
Tuberculosis, Malaria, Dengue Fever, Hepatitis (B,C,E), HIV,
Meningitis, Japanese Encephalitis, Rabies, Hantavirus, Yellow
Fever and Ecoli 0157, the minister said.

"Most of these diseases sound familiar, but actually new
strains have developed or mutated into new types of illnesses
with different symptoms and can no longer be cured by customary
antibiotic medicines," Ahmad said.

Therefore, scientists must find other cures, he said.

Sri Astuti Suparmanto, director general of the National
Institute for Health Research and Development cited as an example
of an investigation in 1992 that revealed a new hepatitis variety
called Hepatitis E which had killed several pregnant women in
Kalimantan.

"We have to act fast identifying the symptoms and instituting
preventive and curative actions," Sri said.

Such phenomena are caused mostly by antibiotic resistance due
to improper dosage and rapid transportation and migration of the
diseases with contributing factors such as poverty, massive
populations, environmental destruction, and natural disasters,
she said.

The ministry's 1999 data revealed that extraordinary outbreaks
of diseases occurring in the country are ranked as follows:
measles with 4,718 cases and 73 deaths, tetanus neonatorum with
98 cases and 58 deaths, dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) with 1,136
cases and 41 deaths, diarrhea with 5,147 cases and 64 deaths,
malaria with 1,171 cases and 44 deaths, rabies with 150 cases and
26 deaths, diphtheria with 40 cases and 11 deaths.

"Each Asian country faces different problems. In Thailand and
the Philippines, for instance, the incidence of HIV cases and
mortality rates are quite high compared to Indonesia," Ahmad
said.

In a bid to cope with the problem, the ministry, in
cooperation with United States Naval Medical Research Unit No. 2
(Namru-2 Jakarta) will hold a conference on Regional Action for
Infectious Disease Outbreak in Southeast Asia in Kuta, Bali, from
Sept. 11 to Sept. 15.

"We hope to come up with a joint regional plan to handle
infectious disease outbreaks," he added.

Among the topics are surveillance and control of such
plagues, Early Warning Outbreak Recognition System (EWORS) and
the economic impact of plagues.

Representatives from 16 countries are slated to join the
conference as well as international organizations such as the
World Health Organization, World Bank, Asian Development Bank,
Japan International Cooperation Agency, U.S. Cooperation Among
Developing Countries, and Australia Aid and related Indonesian
ministries such as forestry and agriculture and the ministry of
tourism.

In another development, the minister also revealed that there
are currently between 750,000 and 800,000 displaced people in the
country who are in danger from such contagious plagues because of
inadequate facilities.

"The number of refugees in Indonesia is mostly concentrated in
the Malukus and other strife-torn areas.

"As for East Timor refugees, we are coordinating with United
Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (Untaet)," he
said. (edt)