Beatrix, a nurse at the Long Hubung health center, West Kutai, said most of the dengue fever
patients were children under the age of 12.

“This month, hundreds of local people have contracted dengue fever,” she said.

She said those who were seriously ill were transferred to Sendawar General Hospital in Sendawar, the regency capital, 30 kilometers from Samarinda, the provincial capital.

She said patients who were not in a critical condition, were given medication and sent home as the health center did not offer inpatient facilities.

She said medical teams found it difficult to deliver proper services because of the limited health facilities in remote areas.

Beatrix said dozens of villages in the Mahakam Hulu area depended on the health center, which employed only one medical doctor.

She said the doctor was in Surabaya for Christmas when the deaths occurred, adding, “there is no replacement doctor until the new year.”

She said poor transportation was also another problem faced by medical healthcare practitioners.

She said medical workers would use small wooden boats (locally known as ketinting) to navigate rivers to reach remote villages.

Patients in critical condition would be forced to spend hours on overland transportation to reach the general hospital.

Beatrix called on the villagers to be vigilant of floods during the rainy season, which is usually followed by widespread dengue infections.

She said the Mahakam Hulu area was prone to flooding at the end of the year.

Meanwhile, local tribal leaders conducted a ritual to clean their neighborhoods to prevent further outbreaks.

Instead of fumigating, the tribal leaders, mostly old women, walked around their villages and cited
Dayak-language prayers.

The tribes believe the ritual is able to disperse evil spirits and the disease.

Besides affecting West Kutai, the disease has also surfaced in Balikpapan.

The Balikpapan Health Agency recorded 891 dengue fever cases since November.

Twelve of the patients died, including 11 children and one adult.

The agency predicted cases of dengue fever will still be high in December and January due to
heavy rain.

Earlier, the Central Java Health Agency said 190 people had died from dengue fever from January to October this year.

Last year, the agency recorded 229 deaths from the disease and 329 the year before.

Popular

Calls for reform grow ahead of Prabowo’s state address

Indonesia at 81: Whose sovereignty are we celebrating?

Indonesia’s rare earth push faces low-content, costly extraction hurdles