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Dengue fever kills at least six people in North Maluku
At least six people have died of dengue fever in North Maluku so far this year as the province is tackling two viral diseases simultaneously.
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A mother consoles her son, who is suffering from dengue fever, at the TC Hillers Maumere Regional Hospital in Sikka regency, East Nusa Tenggara, on March 10. (Antara/Kornelis Kaha)
At least six people have died of dengue fever in North Maluku so far this year.
According to North Maluku Health Agency data for the first quarter of the year, the fatalities were recorded from Jan. 3 to March 3 in three regencies of the province.
Rosita Alkatiri, the agency’s head of disease prevention and control, said on Saturday that three deaths were reported in Morotai Island regency, two in West Halmahera and one in North Halmahera. The province recorded 175 dengue fever cases in the first three months of the year.
“There were 67 patients in January, 77 in February and 31 in March,” Rosita, who is also the North Maluku COVID-19 task force spokesperson, told news agency Antara.
She added that 1,195 cases of the dengue fever, a mosquito-borne viral disease, had been recorded in the province throughout 2019, with 16 ending deadly.
“We are advising the North Maluku people to maintain cleanliness and eradicate mosquito breeding grounds by closing or draining water storage containers, especially in schools and places of worship, where activities are minimal during the COVID-19 outbreak, to suppress the number of dengue fever cases,” she said.
In addition, she also called on the people to stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic to curb the spread of the disease. (aly)
