T

he government is delivering diphtheria vaccines to prevent further spread of the deadly respiratory infection, as the governor of East Java has officially declared an extraordinary situation (KLB) in the province due to the epidemic.

“Each time we find someone who is showing symptoms of diphtheria, we will quickly administer a test to see if he or she indeed has the disease, and then we will provide medical treatment if he or she is positively diagnosed with diphtheria. We will also give an anti-diphtheritic serum (ADS) vaccine to the contacts,” Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih told journalists on the sidelines of the 2011 National Drinking Water and Sanitation Conference, which began on Tuesday and would end on Thursday.

She said the ADS vaccine would be given to children and adolescents aged seven to 15 years, as well as to those who were older than 15.

“So, in principle, we will fight against the outbreak by delivering the ADS vaccines in addition to giving them antibiotics,” she said.

Furthermore, the government will work to improve diphtheria vaccine delivery methods due to the fact that many children had incomplete cycles of the DPT vaccine, a combined immunization against three infectious diseases in humans: diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and tetanus.

“Immunizing children with the DPT vaccine is the only way to protect them against diphtheria. But frankly speaking, I’m quite amazed by how so many people are refusing to give their newborns the three cycles of the DPT vaccines. Why?” Endang said, adding that the government would encourage people to put their newborns through a complete DPT vaccine cycle.

Diphtheria is a deadly upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae. It was frequently fatal among children before the DPT vaccine was developed.

Several regions in East Java have been battling diphtheria outbreaks for the past nine months.

The Malang administration declared a KLB for the disease in the regency.

From January to September, Malang recorded 48 cases of diphtheria, making it the regency with the highest number of diphtheria cases in East Java.

In Jember, there were 19 cases in nine districts as of September, resulting in one fatality. Cases have also been reported in other regions such as Sumenep and Sidoarjo.

In Sumenep, the disease has claimed two lives.

“To cope with the outbreak, we are instructing all community health centers [Puskesmas] and supporting community health centers in the regency to stay vigilant in fighting this infectious disease. We are now declaring a KLB for this disease in our regency due to the increased number of diphtheria-infected people,” said Enny Sekar Rengganingati, head of Malang’s health department, as quoted by kompas.com.

She said the diphtheria-infected children usually showed distinct symptoms such as a bloody, watery mucus discharge from their respiratory tract and suffering from damaged heart muscles and nerves.

Infection of Corynebacterium diphtheriae starts in the tonsils, spreading to the pharynx and to larynx or upper respiratory tract. People may contract the infection through direct contact with an infected person.

In the early stages, infected people usually suffer from high fevers.

East Java Governor Soekarwo declared the diphtheria KLB in all parts of the province after 328 children aged between one to 10 years old died of the disease over the last 10 months.

To combat the disease, the local government is conducting mass diphtheria vaccinations in several heavily affected regions — especially in 11 regencies and municipalities: Bangkalan, Banyuwangi, Blitar, Gresik, Mojokerto, Pamekasan, Pasuruan, Sampang, Sidoarjo, Sumenep and Surabaya.

“These are the areas with highest number of diphtheria cases,” Soekarwo said as quoted by kompas.com on Sunday.

The mass vaccination began on Monday.

Soekarwo also said that the local government would declare a KLB for not only the 11 areas but throughout all the regencies and municipalities in East Java.

“We are allocating Rp 8 billion (US$896,000) to combat the disease,” he said.