Measles Patients Must Self-Isolate Despite Mild Symptoms

Jakarta — Health coach and internal medicine specialist Dr Kasim Rasjidi has urged the public who contract measles to self-isolate and avoid social contact. Measles is highly contagious, particularly among toddlers and children.

“Indeed, if you catch measles, self-isolate. Measles spreads very easily, especially among children and toddlers. Although adults can still be exposed to it — I once had a case of a woman who contracted measles on her wedding day,” Dr Kasim said when contacted by Republika on Monday, 9 March 2026.

Dr Kasim stated that a person infected with measles generally no longer transmits the virus once their body has recovered. Theoretically, a person ceases to transmit the measles virus approximately five days after the skin rash first appears.

However, the recovery process differs for each individual. Some patients feel fully recovered after the acute phase, whilst others continue to experience weakness for some time even after main symptoms have subsided.

“Measles recovery, like dengue fever, once you recover, you recover completely. This means that when someone has recovered, the infection is truly finished. If someone then contracts measles again, that represents a new infection,” Dr Kasim said.

Similar remarks were made by Acting Director General of Disease Control at the Health Ministry, Andi Saguni. He urged individuals to avoid gathering or crowding if they have signs or symptoms suggesting measles.

Individuals with fever or reddish rash symptoms, he said, should avoid contact with healthy people and immediately self-isolate at home. “Specifically for individuals who have fever symptoms, with signs suggestive of measles such as reddish rash, it is advisable not to gather, and not to go to places, including tourist destinations or other crowded areas. It is better to stay at home,” Andi said during an online press conference on measles case updates in Indonesia held in Jakarta on Sunday, 8 March 2026.