Parents must be vigilant, because the Singapore flu usually attacks children under five
Tanjungpinang (ANTARA) – The Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI) Branch of the Riau Islands Province (Kepri), appealed to the public to be wary of the Singapore flu which recently attacked children under the age of five (toddlers).
“Parents must be vigilant, because the Singapore flu usually attacks children under five,” said the Head of IDAI Riau Islands Branch, dr. Muhammad Rizqa in Tanjungpinang, Saturday.
According to him, the symptoms of a child developing a disease caused by the virus are generally a rash in the mouth or looking like canker sores, then smallpox-like spots on the hands and feet, especially in the folds of the elbows and knees up to the groin.
“Singapore flu is typical for attacking around the mouth, hands and feet,” he said.
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He said, Singapore flu is very easily transmitted through human interaction, for example when coughing or sneezing, eating a container, to direct contact with sufferers of the disease. Including transmission from children’s playgrounds, which have previously been exposed to the body fluids of children with the disease.
Rizqa said that recently there were quite a lot of cases of Singapore flu found in the local area.
He who also serves as a doctor at the Raja Ahmad Tabib Hospital (RAT) in the Riau Islands Province, noted that in the last month per day on average four or more children came to the hospital with complaints of Singapore flu.
In fact, there are children who have to be hospitalized for up to three days, because of difficulty swallowing when eating and drinking accompanied by vomiting. While the symptoms are mild, they only cause fever in children.
“Usually the child comes with complaints of not wanting to eat, sometimes accompanied by a fever. Most of the time they have canker sores that make the child sick to swallow food,” he said.
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He appealed to parents who notice symptoms of Singapore flu in their children to immediately take their children to the health center or hospital.
“Children under five are susceptible to exposure to the disease, because their immune system is still weak,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Riau Islands Provincial Health Office, Muhammad Bisri, asked the public not to panic about the Singapore flu case.
Singapore Flu has symptoms like a common fever and has become endemic in neighboring Singapore.
“Why is it called the Singapore flu, because this disease had a high rise in Singapore around the 2000s,” he said.
Bisri said the Singapore flu case in Indonesia was still under observation, but had not yet become the focus of the Indonesian Ministry of Health.
Even so, he appealed to the public to continue to implement health protocols such as wearing masks and washing hands.
“Currently there is no specific government policy in dealing with the Singapore flu, so it is still relatively safe,” said Bisri.
Also read: PDPI proposes that Indonesia take control of preventing an influenza pandemic in ASEAN
2023-08-26 10:11:25
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