One dies as dengue cases keep rising in Jakarta
One dies as dengue cases keep rising in Jakarta
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A 13-year-old girl died of dengue fever on Saturday, four days
after being admitted to Tarakan Hospital in Central Jakarta, as
the number of dengue fever cases in the capital continued to
rise.
Maesyaroh, who lived in Kebon Melati, Tanah Abang, Central
Jakarta, died at 8:30 a.m. in the intensive care unit.
"Her condition continued to worsen Friday evening. After
several hours of intensive treatment, she died on Saturday
morning. Besides dengue, the girl also had lung problems," said
Henry Manik, a hospital spokesman.
Jakarta Health Agency spokesman Evy Zelfino said the number of
dengue cases in the capital was continuing to rise, and hospitals
were beginning to run out of rooms for patients.
She said that as of Saturday, over 17,000 patients had been
treated for dengue this year at the city's hospitals, with 78
reported deaths.
"Despite efforts to curb the source of the disease, the number
of cases continues to rise because of the rainy season. We will
continue to monitor the situation and urge people to take
preventive measures," she told The Jakarta Post.
With more people seeking treatment for dengue, hospitals are
being forced to treat patients in beds set up in the corridors.
Sixty-one patients were being treated at Budi Asih Hospital as
of Saturday, with at least 31 of these patients in beds set up in
corridors.
Persahabatan and Pasar Rebo hospitals, both in East Jakarta,
are also struggling to accommodate all of the dengue patients
seeking care. Dozens of patients at the two hospitals are being
treated in the corridors.
The number of dengue patients at Pasar Rebo Hospital shot up
to 81 on Sunday, from 70 on Saturday.
The hospital said it was admitting more than 10 new dengue
patients every day.
Despite the rise in cases, Evy said the administration had not
declared the situation an emergency.
"We have our own criteria for declaring an emergency
situation," she said.
The administration's official policy is to declare an
emergency if 15 to 20 new cases of a particular disease are
reported daily. Upon declaring an emergency, the administration
will allocate funds and take special steps to halt the spread of
the disease, including educating the public and distributing
medicine.
"We have asked the people to drain their open tanks, cover
water tanks and bury old cans. They need to spend 30 minutes each
Friday doing this. If they do this consistently we can stop the
spread of dengue," she said.
Dengue fever is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which
breeds in still, clean water.
The Jakarta Health Agency recorded 18,000 cases of dengue last
year, with about 82 deaths, mostly children.
The highest number of cases occurred in February and March,
when over 5,000 people were infected.
According to data from the agency, the number of cases of
dengue fever in Greater Jakarta hit a high of 15,360 in 1998,
3,998 in 1999, 8,729 in 2000, 8,820 in 2001, 5,750 in 2002 and
14,071 in 2003.