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Jakarta Post

Medan on high alert for diphtheria

The number of patients with probable diphtheria in Medan, North Sumatra, has increased from two to 10 this week.

Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post)
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Medan
Wed, October 2, 2019

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Medan on high alert for diphtheria A student embraces her teacher while receiving a diphtheria vaccine during the final round of the Outbreak Response Immunization (ORI) program in Malang, East Java, on July 24, 2018. The program targeted local residents aged between 1 and 19. (JP/Nedi Putra AW)

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he number of patients with diphtheria symptoms in Medan has increased from two to 10 this week, with three having passed away in North Sumatra.

Adam Malik Medan Hospital spokesperson Rosario Dorothy Simanjuntak said the latest patient admitted for diphtheria was a 3-year-old identified only as RH from Nias island. All of the patients are receiving treatment in the hospital’s isolation room.

“RH is our 10th patient with probable diphtheria this week,” Rosario told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

She also said that seven out of 10 patients were children aged 3 to 10. While the rest of them are adults, comprising two Malaysian students from the University of North Sumatra and a 31-year-old housewife identified only as M.

Rosario explained that M went to the hospital after her child, R, was admitted to the hospital for exhibiting diphtheria symptoms. Both of them are currently receiving intensive treatment.

“Most of the patients did not know how they came into contact with the virus since they never traveled abroad. But the thing is, they experienced diphtheria symptoms such as fever, pain upon swallowing and a mucous membrane covering the throat,” Rosario said.

On Sept. 30, the North Sumatra Health Agency officially declared an extraordinary occurrence (KLB) status following a diphtheria case that killed Nurul Arifah binti Ahmad Ali, a 20-year-old Malaysian college student of the University of North Sumatra on Sept. 21.

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