Jakarta (ANTARA) – University of Indonesia pediatrician dr. Anton Dharma Saputra Sp.A said that by carrying out immunizations, people can break the chain of transmission of dangerous diseases and create herd immunity or group immunity.
“By immunizing us and our children, we can protect others because there is herd immunity, where we stop the transmission of a disease by increasing immunization coverage,” said Anton in a health discussion in Jakarta, Saturday.
But in reality, said Anton, according to WHO data, there is still one in five children in the world who have not received vaccines and every 20 seconds a child in the world dies from diseases that should be prevented by immunization.
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Diseases that can be prevented by immunization range from liver cancer, pulmonary tuberculosis, tetanus, diphtheria, polio with paralysis to death, measles, pertussis or whooping cough, rubella and inflammation of the lining of the brain.
The doctor who practices at PELNI Hospital said that in Indonesia alone as a whole there were 506 cases of children and adults affected by tetanus and five percent or 25 cases of this disease occurred in newborns, according to WHO in 2017.
“However, the tetanus mortality rate has decreased considerably since tetanus toxoid vaccination was carried out in pregnant women,” he said.
In addition, pertussis or whooping cough globally is still a threat to children. WHO data noted that in 2015 abroad there were 24 million cases of pertussis, of which 142 thousand died. Meanwhile, jaundice due to the hepatitis B virus is still around 7.1 percent or 18 million cases in the world.
Hepatitis B is passed from mother to child during childbirth. Around 60-90 percent of babies whose mothers have hepatitis B can cause chronic chronic hepatitis to liver cancer.
Anton explained how immunization works is to inoculate the body by injecting live, weakened bacteria or viruses into the body. The goal is for children to get to know these bacteria so that the body forms an immune system or antibodies.
“These antibodies will later recognize germs or viruses and protect the body one day when exposed,” said Anton.
In the latest Maternal and Child Health (MCH) book for 2023, there are additional mandatory immunizations from the government, namely at the age of two months of the first PCV immunization to prevent pneumonia, at three months of age the second additional PCV and immunization against measles and rubella at nine months after, and rotavirus.
Another disease that can also be prevented by immunization is polio. This disease that can cause paralysis can be prevented by administering drip and injection polio immunization.
Anton said, 72 percent of polio is asymptomatic, but every time a child with polio defecates in the open, they can become agents of transmission with 24 percent of the symptoms only being a cold or the common cold and having no other symptoms.
While the other one percent can experience permanent paralysis either in the arms or legs. And two to 10 percent of those paralyzed will die from attacking the respiratory muscles. Until now there is no treatment that can cure polio.
“The prevention is by giving 4 doses of drip vaccine, 2 doses of injectable polio vaccine, given at 4 and 9 months. Wash your hands properly when using the toilet, make sure the food is cooked properly and the water must be clean,” said the doctor who is a member of the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI).
This immunization program is not only given at infancy but continues until children reach elementary school age with the School Child Immunization Month (BIAS) program which is held in August for MR immunization and November for diphtheria immunization.
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2023-07-29 15:38:41
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