W. Java recruits students in fight against dengue

W. Java recruits students in fight against dengue

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Cirebon/Padang

Thousands of students will be deployed to clean up housing
complexes near their schools to help curb the spread of dengue
fever.

Cirebon deputy mayor Agus Al Wafier said on Tuesday the
students would take part in the government's dengue fever
eradication program after classes.

"It is one of our efforts to fight the disease," Agus said.

West Java is among the hardest hit areas by dengue. In the
Cirebon municipality alone, 31 people have been hospitalized with
dengue since January, with one death.

The head of the municipality's dengue prevention team, Ano
Sutrisno, said 37,000 elementary school students had been trained
to destroy the larvae of the Aedes aegepti mosquito, which
carries the disease. Some 10,000 junior high school students and
10,000 high school students are also expected to take part in the
program.

The government has declared the dengue outbreak this year an
extraordinary occurrence, announcing that it will cover the
medical costs of poor dengue patients.

More than 19,000 people across the country have been infected
with dengue since January, with over 370 killed.

More towns across the country reported on Tuesday an increase
in the number of their dengue fever cases, with hospitals warning
of shortages of blood and medicine.

In the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu, all hospitals
reported that they continued to admit new dengue patients daily,
many of them required intensive treatment and relatively long
hospital stays.

"Everyone should remain alert to the current situation and
prevent it from becoming an epidemic," Palu Health Agency head
Abdullah was quoted as saying by Antara.

Abdullah said 17 people had been hospitalized with dengue
fever in January, and that number had increased to 39 people this
month with two deaths.

As a result of the increasing number of dengue cases, many
hospitals across the country are warning of shortages of medicine
and blood.

The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara,
said blood shortages could endanger dengue patients.

"We call on people, especially civil servants in the Mataram
municipality, to donate blood," Mataram Information and
Communication Office head Bodan Wisnujati said on Tuesday.

Wisnujati said that last week, 187 civil servants had donated
blood, but said more was needed because of the high number of
dengue cases.

He said 87 people had been hospitalized with dengue since
January, with one death.

In West Sumatra, 164 people have been hospitalized with dengue
since January; 145 of them in Padang, 10 in Pesisir Selatan, five
in Padang Pariaman, three in Sawahlunto Sijunjung, and one in
Solok.

The high number of dengue cases in Padang is believed to have
been caused by the poor drainage in the city.