Indonesia: Dengue death toll reaches 408

This year's outbreak of dengue fever has now killed 408 people and afflicted nearly 30,000 others across Indonesia.

The Health Ministry's director of animal-borne disease eradication, Thomas Suroso, on Wednesday (10/3/04) said the number of infections was continuing to grow in many provinces, including Jakarta.

"Maybe it will still increase in the next one to two months as the rainy season peaks, then it might start to decline," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The majority of the cases are in Java, South Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Bali, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara and Aceh.

Health authorities are carrying out tests to determine the specific virus strain responsible for the outbreak. The World Health Organization says it's unlikely to be the result of a new strain of the virus, but is probably the peak of a five-year cycle common in tropical countries.

Hospitals are in the worst affected areas of Jakarta are now filled with dengue patients and many sufferers are being accommodated in corridors.

There is no vaccine for the virus, which can cause severe aches and pains, skin rashes, headaches, a high fever, nosebleeds, chills and fatal hemorrhaging.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri has called on hospitals to provide free treatment for impoverished people afflicted by the disease, but it's unclear whether the government will be picking up the bills.

Indonesians are being urged to frequently clean water storage containers to prevent them from becoming breeding grounds of the aedes aegypti mosquito that carries dengue fever.

Local health authorities are conducting intensive control activities including larviciding, space spraying and educating the community on how to protect themselves and the actions they can take to prevent the mosquitoes from breeding in and around their homes.