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Dengue fever kills 11, infects hundreds in East Nusa Tenggara regency
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A man conducts fogging in Temanggung, Central Java on Sept. 5, 2016 to reduce the population of mosquitoes amid a surge of dengue cases. (Antara/Anis Efizudin)
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leven people have died due to dengue fever in Sikka regency, East Nusa Tenggara, while up to 1,057 people have been infected since the beginning of the year, the Sikka Health Agency reported.
Sikka Regent Robby Idong declared an Extraordinary Occurrence (KLB) in relation to the dengue outbreak in January. Sikka Health Agency acting head Petrus Herlemus, said the KLB had been extended to March 2020, the third such extension since the KLB was first announced.
Petrus also said the medical team in Sikka was now on 24-hour alert to handle incoming dengue patients.
The Sikka administration has also requested 10 more doctors from the Health Ministry to help with the outbreak.
Benediktus Lukas Raja, a Sikka Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) member, told The Jakarta Post that the Sikka administration had to take more serious steps to handle the outbreak.
“There had been 11 dengue fever patients [who died]. We ask the administration and our friends at the Health Ministry to be more proactive,” Benediktus said.
He said the dengue fever response should involve all stakeholders, including the Health Ministry, community health centers (Puskesmas), village heads, subdistrict heads, village heads and community heads.
He added that the Health Agency should make a master plan to handle other possible disease outbreaks, such as malaria and filariasis.
“People working in health care should not think that we have to be sick first to get treatment, instead they should think about how to minimize the number of sick people. There is no point building a luxurious health facility if the number of sick people keeps going up,” he said. (gis)
