JawaPos.com – Measles disease is endemic in Indonesia. The increase in cases compared to 2021 was 32 times. Because of this, a number of provinces have declared Extraordinary Events (KLB) status.
Director of Immunization Management of the Ministry of Health, Prima Yosephine, said that an area is called an outbreak if there are at least 2 cases of measles in the area that have been confirmed in a laboratory. And this case has an epidemiological relationship.
“During 2022, the number of measles cases in our country was indeed quite a lot, more than 3,341 case reports. These cases have spread to 223 regencies/cities in 31 provinces,” said Prima in a virtual statement, Friday (20/1).
The number of these cases were obtained over a period of 1 year from January to December 2022. When compared to 2021, there was a significant increase of approximately 32 times.
Decreasing Immunization Coverage is the Cause
According to him, the cause of the measles outbreak occurred because for 2 consecutive years Indonesia had not been able to reach the target for routine immunization services. So many children are not routinely immunized due to Covid-19.
Prima emphasized that measles prevention can only be obtained from immunization so that immunization according to the schedule must be carried out so that children are protected from measles. The situation in Indonesia in the last 2 years or almost 3 years since the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has had bad implications for immunization coverage.
“Immunization coverage has dropped significantly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has caused many children to not be immunized. Indonesia throughout 2022 there have been 12 provinces that have issued extraordinary incident statements (KLB),” concluded Prima.
Editor : Edy Pramana
Reporter : Marieska Harya Virdhani
