DENGUE FEVER KILLS AT LEAST 17 IN MALANG

Malang, East Java, Jan. 25 (ANTARA) - At least 17 residents of Malang died of dengue fever in 2009, according to a local health official said here on Monday.

A total of 1,073 people had been infected with dengue fever during 2009, and 17 of them had died, Mursyidah of the Malang district health service, said.

"Most of the fatalities were children. We expect that the peak season of dengue fever this year will be in February. Therefore we urge the community to be on alert by practicing 3M, which drains the tub, close container that can hold water, and bury the things that can be used to nest mosquito larva," she said.

Of the 33 sub districts in Malang District, three sub districts have been given special attention, namely Turen, Pakist and Dau.

"Residents in those three sub districts must be serious in implementing 3M, because a number of people have suffered from dengue fever in those three sub districts, and some of them died of this disease," she said.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne infection which in recent decades has become a major international public health concern. Dengue is found in tropical and sub-tropical regions around the world, predominantly in urban and semi-urban areas.

The Health Ministry has reported that in the current rainy season, the dengue fever cases have increased in the provinces of Riau, Jakarta, West Java, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, West Sulawesi, and North Maluku. Dengue cases have also been reported in Bangka Belitung, East Kalimantan, Gorontalo, and Palu.

Seven residents of Bangka Belitung (Babel) died of dengue fever late last year. Fogging had been conducted in 20 houses to prevent the further spread of the disease, Helmi Soefie, head of the Babel health service's disease control section, said last December 2009.

In Bangkalan, East Java, the number of patients suffering from dengue fever in the current rainy season at Syarifah Ambami Rato Ebu (RSA) hospital was also on the rise, the hospital's director said last January 11, 2010.

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