Two more die from dengue fever in N. Sumatra

Two more die from dengue fever in N. Sumatra

MEDAN, North Sumatra: Two more children were reported to have
died from the outbreak of dengue fever that has been plaguing
several parts of North Sumatra, bringing the death toll to at
least 12 victims since March.

Health officials said on Friday that the two children,
Perdinan Berutu, 4, from Satria village in Tebing Tinggi regency,
and Fauzan, 5, from Medan, died in local hospitals on Wednesday
and Thursday respectively.

Syahrial R. Anas, acting head of the Medan health office, said
the children died after suffering from severe hemorrhaging.

In fact, the deaths could have been prevented if the families
of the victims had taken the children to hospital immediately for
treatment.

"Parents can take early measures by giving their infected
children enough fluids and anti-fever drugs so as to reduce their
temperatures before bringing them to the hospital," he told The
Jakarta Post.

Responding to the controversy over the swallow aviaries that
are believed to be the breeding places of Aedes aegepti
mosquitoes in the province, Syahrial said his office has sent a
team to inspect 60 of the 600 such aviaries in Medan.

The environmental health technical center at the Medan health
office recently found that 90 percent of the swallow aviaries
served as breeding places for the disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Swallows' nests, cemented together by the birds' saliva, are
used in traditional medicine and are a major source of income in
North Sumatra. --JP