Dengue Epidemic In Indonesia - 91 Dead, 4500 Cases To Date

[hatrack]

JAKARTA - "Dengue fever has killed at least 91 people in Indonesia this year, mainly on Java island, and a new deadly strain of the disease could be responsible, the Health Ministry said yesterday.

In Jakarta, health officers went to slums, residential areas and even mansions near the president's house Tuesday, spraying billowing clouds mosquito repellant.
Dengue fever has long been a killer across the world's largest archipelago, but the ministry said the death toll so far this year was double the same period last year.

"There have been 4,500 cases of dengue fever across Indonesia (this year). The death toll as of February 17 is 91 people," said ministry spokeswoman Mariani Reksoprodjo. She said data only came from seven of Indonesia's 30 provinces, with most cases from the country's main island of Java where more than half the population lives. Crowded Central Java province has not disclosed its death toll, officials said.

EDIT

Health minister Ahmad Sujudi told local media Monday that the high number of deaths was largely due to patients getting late treatment. There is no vaccine for dengue fever, which causes high fever and hemorrhaging."

EDIT

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/23864/story.htm

[gmoney]

1. They need a bunch of LarvaSonics!

Developed by a teenager for the science fair, LarvaSonic instantly kills mosquito larvae with simple audio frequencies transmitted through water. It's really cool, and there's nothing chemical involved. Give a few of these things to every third world tropical village, and dengue and malaria and such could be drastically reduced.

http://www.larvasonic.com

[yo-yo-ma]

2. wow - great link

what's holding up the distribution . . . appears a brilliant and useful technology