Diphtheria outbreak kills nine children

Diphtheria outbreak kills nine children

Yuliansyah
The Jakarta Post
Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan

Health officials in the South Kalimantan regency of Banjar
advised residents of Aluh-aluh district on Tuesday to curb
outdoor activities following an outbreak of diphtheria that has
killed nine children over the past six months.

Head of Banjar Health Office Rosihan Adhani said that the
district had been temporarily isolated after the death of the
children aged between one and nine.

Diphtheria is a contagious disease caused by Corynebacterium
diphtheriae bacteria with a common symptom of sore throat.
Usually affecting children, the illness is transmitted through
saliva.

Rosihan said that his office had declared the diphtheria
outbreak an extraordinary circumstance that occurred for the
first time in the district in the past decade. The district is a
home to 1,370 people.

He said that to control the disease, his office had
established an emergency post in Simpang Warga Luar village
within Aluh-aluh district.

The public's lack of information on the disease has
contributed to the rapid spread of diphtheria, according to
Rosihan.

Hundreds of parents, in an attempt to be cautious, panicked
due to the outbreak and believe that the disease could only be
cured by traditional medicines. They prefer going to traditional
healers instead of seeing doctors at community health centers.

People who suffer from diphtheria show similar symptoms like a
lack of appetite, swelling of the lymph nodes in the neck and
lesions appear at the back of the throat which looks like a thick
fibrous membrane. As the disease develops, the membrane often
obstructs the airway and results in suffocation of a patient.

"We are convinced that such symptoms are caused by magical
substances or supernatural creatures," said one of the residents
in Simpang village.

In fact, it is a molecule of diphtheria toxin that kills a
cell in the human heart or central nervous system which often
causes death. The bacteria of C. diphtheriae can produce 5,000
molecules of such toxin in one hour.

"To prevent the worst possibility of infection that the
epidemic can bring, I urge children not to play outside their
houses," Rosihan said, adding that his office had also screened
children who had yet received the tetanus-whooping cough
vaccination (DPT).

The diphtheria vaccine is part of the DPT which is given in
infancy. The vaccine, however, does not give life-long immunity
so it requires a booster shot every 10 years.

Generally, a doctor will give a passive immunization with an
antitoxin to those who are suspected of having the disease
already.

In addition, penicillin or erythromycin is given in a bid to
stop further growth of the bacteria and to prevent the patient
from becoming a carrier after recovery.