The Health Ministry noted that measles outbreaks (KLB) were recorded to occur in 31 provinces throughout Indonesia as of December 2022.

“The (measles) cases, as of December 2022, were reported to be found in 31 provinces. The patients were almost of all ages,” Head of the Communication and Public Service Bureau of the ministry Siti Nadia Tarmizi stated here on Thursday.

Tarmizi remarked that the total number of measles cases had reached 3,341, spread across 223 districts and cities.

Measles is caused by Measles morbillivirus (MeV) that can be transmitted when the patient coughs and sneezes.

The Health Ministry appealed to the public to be aware of the transmission of MeV and to understand the symptoms of the illness.

“Symptoms of measles are high fever as well as reddish spots on the skin (rash), accompanied by cough and/or runny nose and/or conjunctivitis (red eyes due to inflammation), which can lead to various complications, such as pneumonia, diarrhea, and meningitis,” Tarmizi explained.

She stated that the number of measles cases during the outbreaks had reached 32-fold of the normal condition since the coverage of measles immunization during the 2020-2022 period did not meet the government’s target.

One of the factors of the low measles immunization coverage was due to the shifted focus of health services during the 2020-2022 period to curb the transmission of the SARS-Cov-2 virus that causes the COVID-19, she remarked.

According to the ministry’s report, the coverage of complete basic immunizations for infants only reached 84 percent, while the immunization target was set at 92 percent.

In addition to measles immunization, the complete basic immunizations for infants in Indonesia include polio immunization, hepatitis immunization, BCG (tuberculosis) immunization, and DPT-HB-Hib (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B, pneumonia, and meningitis) immunization.

Tarmizi stated that currently, measles immunization is given along with rubella immunization (Measles-Rubella immunization) three times, namely when the child is of the age of nine months, 18 months, and in Grade 1 of elementary school.

Source: Antara News