The Return of Polio in Indonesia: Causes, Symptoms, and Prevention

August 17, 2023 18:00 |

Updated: August 17, 2023 10:24

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Education. Illustration source: PEXELS/McElspeth

Indonesia is one of 11 countries South East Asia Regional Office (SEARO) which successfully received a Polio Free certificate from WHO on March 27 2014. Indonesia was declared polio free after the last cases of wild polio virus namely type 1 in East Java Province and type 3 in North Sumatra Province were successfully isolated in 1995. However, Indonesia is currently shocked by the return of polio. This case occurred in late 2022 to early 2023 in the districts of Pidie, North Aceh and Bieruen from Aceh Province and Purwakarta Regency from West Java Province. So, what is polio?

Poliomyelitis or polio is a paralytic infectious disease caused by a virus called polivirus (PV) that attacks the human nervous system. This virus can enter the bloodstream and travel to the central nervous system causing muscle weakness, permanent paralysis, and even death. Polio sufferers will experience symptoms of fatigue, headaches, fever, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. This disease can attack all age groups, especially groups of children under the age of five.

The polio virus spreads through fecal-oral, namely the spread of infected faeces into the mouth of another person. This virus can enter the mouth through the media of food, drink, and drinking equipment contaminated with the patient’s feces or direct contamination. Until now, there has been no discovery of a drug that can cure polio. However, treatment can still be done to relieve polio symptoms and prevent the condition from getting worse.

Prevention of polio can be done by immunizing the polio vaccine. This vaccine is divided into two types, namely the drip polio vaccine (OPV) and the injectable polio vaccine (IPV). The IPV vaccine is given four times at the age of 1-4 months. Meanwhile, the OPV vaccine is given once at the age of 4 months. In addition to immunization, protecting the environment from pollution must also be done by implementing defecation in the latrines and draining it into the toilet septic tank.

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2023-08-17 11:00:00
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