Wild polio virus spreads to Sumatra<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The wild polio virus that has crippled 65 children across Java
\nlooks to have spread to Sumatra, with the government confirming
\none new positive case in a three-year-old girl in Lampung.<\/p>\n
\"We found that one child under the age of five in Lampung has
\nbeen infected by the virus and we will conduct an outbreak
\nimmunization response as soon as possible,\" Ministry of Health
\ndirector-general for disease control and environmental health I
\nNyoman Kandun said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The response aims to isolate the virus and prevent it from
\nspreading. It is usually conducted in an area where the virus is
\ndiscovered and neighboring areas where the mobility rate of
\npeople is high.<\/p>\n
The new positive case was the second outside West Java, where
\nthe first case was found in April.<\/p>\n
Less than a week before the second round of polio vaccination
\ncampaigns in Banten, Jakarta and West Java on June 28, the health
\nministry found the first positive case in Demak, Central Java.<\/p>\n
\"Last week, we carried out an ORI in Demak and Grobogan to
\nprotect some 78,000 children under the age of five,\" Kandun said.
\nAs long as there were pockets of unvaccinated children, there was
\na possibility that the virus would spread further, he said.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Health, supported by the WHO, has just
\ncompleted two rounds of mass polio vaccinations in Banten,
\nJakarta and West Java provinces to protect 6.5 million children
\nfrom the imported virus, which Indonesia has not seen since 1995.
\nThe current outbreak began in Sukabumi in West Java.<\/p>\n
The new cases have prompted the health ministry to schedule
\nanother round of polio immunizations for children in Central
\nJava, Yogyakarta, Lampung and South Sumatra.<\/p>\n
\"If possible, we will cover a total of 10 provinces,\" Kandun
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The immunization, scheduled to take place either in August or
\nSeptember, is expected to cover at least 12 million children
\nunder the age of five.<\/p>\n
Ideally, Kandun said, vaccinations should be conducted
\nsimultaneously nationwide but this was more than the government
\ncould afford.<\/p>\n
The government spent Rp 100 billion on a national immunization
\ncampaign in 1995.<\/p>\n
Kandun said Indonesia would need support from other countries
\nand international organizations to carry out a larger vaccination
\nprogram.<\/p>\n
\"Health problems are a global concern, including this one,\" he
\nsaid. \"If a country helps Indonesia overcome this outbreak, it is
\nin fact protecting itself from possible contractions.\"<\/p>\n
Indonesia is the latest country where polio has resurfaced. In
\n2004 the WHO recorded 119 similar cases of polio in 15 previously
\npolio-free countries. Polio has not yet been eradicated from
\nNigeria, India, Afghanistan, Egypt, Pakistan and the Sudan.<\/p>\n
Poliomyelitis, widely known as polio, is a waterborne viral
\ndisease that invades the nervous system and can cause total
\nparalysis and sometimes death.(003)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/wild-polio-virus-spreads-to-sumatra-1447893297",
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