TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
73 people infected with diphtheria in Tangerang over past month
Change Size
A health worker prepares to vaccinate a diphtheria patient at Tarumanegara University in West Jakarta on Dec. 14, 2017. (JP/Seto Wardhana.)
A
total of 73 people have been infected with diphtheria in Tangerang, Banten, between December 2017 and January this year. Of the total, four have died.
The number of cases of diphtheria in Tangerang over the past month more than doubled from early December, data shows.
“In early December, the number of diphtheria patients was only 26 people, then it continued to increase,” Tangerang Health Agency head Desiriana Dinardianti said as quoted by tempo.co on Sunday.
Desiriana said the bacterial infection, which was found in six Tangerang districts in April when the initial outbreak occurred, had spread to eight districts—Kosambi, Teluk Naga, Kresek, Rajeg, Curug, Kelapa Dua, Balaraja and Cisoka.
Tangerang Regent Ahmed Zaki Iskandar declared a health emergency (KLB) last October, after dozens of people were hospitalized for diphtheria infection.
In response to the cases, the Tangerang administration will hold its second and third outbreak response immunizations (ORI). The first one was held from Dec. 11 to Jan. 10. (roi)
