The West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) health agency has found eight people with suspected diphtheria across the province in the past week, an official said on Wednesday.

“Five patients have been taken to the Bima Regional General Hospital (RSUD), while the three others are being treated at the NTB Provincial General Hospital [RSUP] in Mataram,” said NTB Health Agency head Mardjito.

He said that the five patients at RSUD Bima returned negative results for diphtheria after their test samples were examined at private laboratory in Surabaya, East Java.

Meanwhile, the three other patients at RSUP NTB in Mataram are being treated in isolation rooms while the hospital awaits the results of their laboratory tests.

“Two of the patients are children and another is an adult. Clinically, they are all still [suspected diphtheria cases]. We are still waiting for the laboratory results to see whether they test positive for diphtheria,” said Mardjito. (ebf)