Indonesia: Dengue fever kills over 100 people

By Mahmut Atanur

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AA) - A dengue fever outbreak has killed over 100 people in Indonesia since the beginning of 2019, according to the local media.

In January, the highest death toll was recorded with 41 people in the East Java province, followed with 13 people in North Sulawesi, while another 12 people lost their lives in East Nusa Tenggara, the local daily Jakarta Post reported on Sunday citing an official.

At least nine fatalities were registered in Central Java, one in West Java and another seven in South Sulawesi, the daily quoted Siti Nadia Tarmizi, the director for vector-borne and zoonotic diseases in the Health Ministry, as saying.

The disease has also claimed lives in 16 provinces, she said, adding that nearly 10,000 dengue cases were registered in 372 cities across the archipelago.

Some regions in Central Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara and North Sulawesi province have declared an emergency situation, according to the official.

Mentioning a significant rise in dengue cases in some provinces compared to the last year, Tarmizi said that spraying and insecticide works are being carried out in the streets and neighborhoods in order to prevent the disease.

Mosquitoes carrying malaria and dengue appear more frequently especially in the rainy season between October and April, while the scientists warn that high temperatures and prolonged rains cause an increase in mosquitoes breed.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection, which is found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas. The infection causes flu-like illness, and occasionally develops into a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue, according to the World Health Organization.

In Indonesia, the dengue fever has killed some 600 people in 2016, and some 500 others in 2017.