New diphtheria strain alters vaccine policy

New diphtheria strain alters vaccine policy

BANDUNG (JP): The Ministry of Health will change its policy on
immunization for school children as of 2002 in response to a
recent increase in the incidence of diphtheria in parts of the
country, a senior official has said.

The program, called School Children Immunization Month (BIAS)
which was launched nationwide three years ago, will include
diphtheria vaccines in addition to the tetanus and whooping
vaccines so far administered.

Umar Fahmi Achmadi, the health ministry's director general for
communicable diseases and environmental health, said in Bandung
earlier this week that diphtheria prevailed in Cianjur, West
Java, with at least 20 deaths among children aged seven to nine
over the year.

"Not all of the children died from diphtheria, as some
developed complications with other ailments," said Umar Fahmi
after attending a commemoration of the 111th anniversary of state
pharmaceutical company Bio Farma in Bandung.

The deaths in Cianjur, according to him, represent a twofold
increase from previous years and so the health ministry has
declared it an extraordinary incidence.

"Though nationally there has been no major increase in the
rate of occurrence of diphtheria, several regions like Semarang
and Pemalang also in Central Java have recorded similar
outbreaks," he added.

The ministry, after examination of 700 school children aged
seven to nine in Cianjur, found that the bacteria responsible for
the high death rate in the area was from a new strain previously
unknown in Indonesia.

As a follow-up to the finding, the ministry sought the
assistance of UNICEF to import diphtheria vaccines for the
immunization of children aged seven and nine in Cianjur, whereas
national application of diphtheria vaccination will start next
year through the BIAS program.

Meanwhile, PT Bio Farma is also producing diphtheria vaccines
for next year's BIAS program. Its president director, Thamrin
Poeloengan, revealed that the government had ordered 17.5 million
doses of the vaccine.

"As a rule, the government needs only 50,000 doses, which we
order from abroad to overcome extraordinary cases," said Thamrin,
adding that the large demand this time had forced the company to
produce it at home. (25)