The outcome of dengue virus test to be made public on Wednesday

The outcome of dengue virus test to be made public on Wednesday
Eva C. Komandjaja
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

The Ministry of Health will complete a test on dengue fever virus
this coming Wednesday and will announce it to public, an official
has said.

After completing the test, the Minister is expected to
announce the type of the virus that spread fatal dengue disease
in many regions recently.

The test would also reveal whether the virus is a new strain
or not, Mariani Reksoprodjo, the spokeswoman of the ministry,
said over the weekend.

But, Mariani could not elaborate whether the samples for the
test were taken from various areas across the country, as there
is a possibility that different viruses might infect different
areas.

The outcome of the test will lay basis for further study,
aimed at finding vaccine that can help cure the disease.

Dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are caused by one of
four closely related, but antigenically distinct, virus serotypes
-- DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4 -- of the genus Flavivirus.

Infection with one of these serotypes does not provide cross-
protective immunity.

So far, there is no vaccine found for this disease. Domestic
and foreign scientists are currently developing it, however, it
might take time up to three or four years away from now to
complete the job.

Asked on the latest data on the human toll caused by the
dengue outbreak, Mariani said that more than 200 people had
become the victims of the disease, with more than half of
provinces across archipelago were affected by it.

As of Saturday afternoon, 215 people had died and 11,013 had
become infected with the mosquito-borne virus in 19 provinces,
said Mariani.

They are Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Riau, Jambi, Banten,
Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, Jogjakarta, East Java, West
Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, East
Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Bali, East Nusa
Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, and Papua.

The Ministry of Health has called the outbreak an
"extraordinary" one because the number of infections is more than
double those in the same period last year.

In general, the cases have shown an increasing trend over the
past four years, from 21,134 in 1999, 33,443 in 2000, 45,904 in
2001, 40,377 in 2002 to 50,131 in 2003.

Cases of dengue have been increasing annually across Southeast
Asia, the World Health Organization has said. Dengue also peaks
in cycles of about five years and the current infections come at
the peak of that cycle, it said.

Dengue fever, carried by the aedes aegypti mosquito, strikes
Indonesia every year, starting in January and peaking in May or
June at the end of the tropical rainy season.

Meanwhile, the dengue fever continued to strike in the
regions. At least seven people have reportedly died of dengue
fever in Sikka district in East Nusa Tenggara province, a local
health official said Monday.

Head of Sikka health office Dr Ignatius Henyo Kerong said that
of 79 people infected with the dengue fever recently, seven have
died. He said the victims in general are school-aged children.

He called on the public to remain in full alert and continue
to clean up the breeding ground of "aedes aegypti" mosquito which
carries the deadly disease virus.

In Banda Aceh, 28 local residents had been infected with the
disease since January this year, but no fatalities were found
yet, said a local health official Muhammad Hasan.