TheJakartaPost
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Jakarta pollution blamed for respiratory problems
Jakarta residents have reported worsening health in the past week after the capital was named the most polluted city in the world.
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Buildings are obscured by the haze caused by air pollution in Jakarta, in this picture taken on Aug. 9, 2023. (AFP/Yasuyoshi Chiba)
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o:p>Jakarta residents found their health to be worsening in the past week after the capital was named the most polluted city in the world.
Jakarta has topped Swiss company IQAir's ranking of air pollution in major cities for almost a week since Aug. 7. Jakarta has since June also regularly recorded "unhealthy" levels of PM2.5 pollutants, a class of fine breathable matter that can penetrate airways to cause respiratory problems.
Talks about air pollution in Jakarta affecting health have been rife among social media users since last week, with many asking one another whether they or their children had been experiencing persistent coughs, flu and fever.
“My daughter has had a cough and flu for over three weeks without a fever. Over-the-counter medicines haven’t worked," Jakarta-based illustrator Asmara Wreksono wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Aug. 9. "And when I brought her to the hospital, the doctor said she had a bacterial infection in her throat due to the air pollution."
On Saturday, Asmara told The Jakarta Post that the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist she visited told her that he had been getting many cases like her 10-year-old daughter in recent weeks.
Others living or working in Jakarta shared a similar story. Language data analyst Eres Ferro, 25, told the Post that he has not recovered from his flu and cough for almost two weeks.
Meanwhile, Vidy Aslama, a private company worker, said she recently caught a fever, flu and nasal congestion that will not go away.
