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Nineteen people in Madura infected with diphtheria
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A diphtheria vaccine is given to an infant at a health clinic in Cibinong, Bogor, in West Java, on Dec. 5. (Antara/Yulius Satria Wijaya)
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s many as 19 people from 11 districts in Bangkalan, Madura Island, have been infected with diphtheria and are currently undergoing medical treatment at local general hospitals, a Bangkalan Health Agency official said on Sunday.
Local health agency secretary Mohammad Rasuli said most of the diphtheria cases affected 15-year-old teenagers in two districts, namely the Kota and Burneh districts.
“At least five people are infected in each district,” Mohammad said as quoted by Antara on Sunday.
He went on to explain that two people were infected in Sepuluh district, while other districts, such as Kwanyar, Tragah, Klampis, Tanjung Bumi, Geger, Galis and Blega, had recorded one diphtheria case each.
Rasuli said that 45 percent of the diphtheria cases had affected people aged 15 years and above, while 25 percent of the cases occurred in children aged 5 to 9 and 10 to 14, respectively.
“Approximately 5 percent of children aged 1 to 4 have been infected with this disease,” he said.
Bangkalan regency was among the 170 regencies and cities in Indonesia included on the Health Ministry’s list of areas worst affected by diphtheria.
To reduce the number of diphtheria cases, Mohammad said the Bangkalan Health Agency had initially launched an immunization campaign. Unfortunately, the program was still met with opposition from parents.
“There are a lot of parents in Bangkalan who still refuse to vaccinate their children,” he said. (dpk)
