NUSA DUA ~ Residents of nearly all Nusa Dua villages are being affected by a seasonal virus, parotitis, which causes swelling of the neck, pain when speaking and swallowing and reduced energy due to a weakened immune system.

Young children are most badly affected because of their tendency to interact closely with each other and spread the virus.

Head of Nusa Dua health clinic 1 Dr Ketut Rai Sutapa said some severely affected children and adults should seek medical treatment, but it was only rarely that a patient needed hospital care.

Parotitis could disappear when a patient’s resistance system had returned to normal he said, urging people to make sure they remained healthy and strong.

The virus had been infecting people for three months and was cases were beginning to decline, he said.