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man from Majakerta village in Majalaya district, Bandung regency, West Java, has died around three hours after taking anti-filariasis drugs provided by the government.

More than 220 others from the village and neighboring areas were rushed to hospital after experiencing symptoms of poisoning from taking anti-filariasis pills together with 2.7 million residents above the age of 2 years across Bandung regency in an anti-filariasis campaign on Tuesday.

Ade, 50, said her husband, Danu, 55, who was suffering from a heart disease, experienced headaches and vomited two hours after taking five anti-filariasis pills distributed by district health officers.

Danu died at around 2 p.m. at Ebah Hospital in Majalaya on Tuesday. "We were able to take him to hospital but he died an hour later," Ade told reporters after her husband's funeral at a cemetery in Majalaya on Wednesday.

Head of the hospital's intensive care unit Rustam P. Efendi confirmed that a patient had died after experiencing poisoning symptoms after taking anti-filariasis drugs.

He, however, could not confirm whether the drugs were the sole cause of death.

"Further analysis must be conducted to determine the cause of death because it could well be due to his own illness," Rustam said on Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, Ebah Hospital had already admitted more than 220 residents from Majakerta, Ibun, Paseh and surrounding areas.

The patients were complaining about similar symptoms of stomach cramps after taking anti-filariasis pills.

Adults were provided with five pills and children were given three pills made up of three types of drugs - diethy carbazine citrate (DEC), albenzole and paracetamol - supplied by the Health Ministry.

Suhardiman, environmental health division head at the Bandung regency health office, said his office had predicted the symptoms experienced by the patients and regarded them as side effects from taking on the drugs.

"Cases of vomiting and headaches would obviously be prevalent in Majalaya because it is the most endemic of the 15 affected districts in our jurisdiction," he said.

Suhardiman, however, denied that consuming anti-filariasis drugs could cause death.

"*Danu* probably died of his heart disease," he said.

The government has focused on Bandung regency in the national filariasis eradication campaign because the mosquito-borne disease is prevalent in 15 of its 31 districts.

The campaign is targeting some 32 million people suffering from filariasis across Indonesia.

Suhardiman said the blood of a person living in an endemic area, including Majalaya, contained microfilaria worms reaching 200 microns per cubic centimeter (cc) of blood, which is far higher than the tolerable level of 50 microns per cc.

"The moment the drug is administered the filariasis bacteria in the blood abruptly dies, causing side effects such as vomiting and headaches," he said.