Officials move to stem measles outbreak in Alor
Officials move to stem measles outbreak in Alor
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Health officials scrambled on Wednesday to provide vaccinations
and food for over 200 toddlers and children in Alor, East Nusa
Tenggara, in a bid to stem a measles outbreak that has already
killed at least 26 children.
"We are conducting a mass vaccination for children in Mataru,
Taman Mataru and Kamafui (villages)," local health office head
Paul S. Manumpil told The Jakarta Post.
"There are four children who are in critical condition.
However, with the vaccinations and additional food, I hope they
will recover very soon," said Paul.
The measles outbreak has killed 26 six children under the age
of five over the past two weeks. More than 200 others are still
being treated.
Paul said the toddlers and children affected by the outbreak
had never received a measles vaccination and thus had no immunity
against the disease.
"The villages are located in a mountainous area of Mataru
where there are no public health services. They have very little
access to health services," said Paul.
He also said local health officials did not carry out measles
vaccination programs in the remote villages because of a lack of
funds.
Paul attributed the death of the 26 children over the past two
weeks to the late arrival of medical help at the difficult to
reach villages.
"They were almost out of reach. We had go through mountains
and the roads are not easy to pass," he said.
He called on the central government and regional
administrations to increase their budgets for vaccination
programs in remote areas throughout the country in order to
prevent similar outbreaks in the future.
"The geographical situation in Alor is completely different
from Sumba or Timor. We cannot work with the same budget given to
the other two districts," said Paul.
He said the government concentrated its health budget on Sumba
and Timor. "Meanwhile, Alor has more difficult geographical
conditions. The mountainous terrain makes it difficult to reach
remote villages."
The measles outbreak in Alor began in October in the villages
of East Mataru, Taman Mataru and Kamafui, all of which have been
isolate.
Measles, also called rubeola, is most readily identified by
its typical skin rash. It is highly contagious and caused by the
morbilivirus.
The disease is most common among children but also is seen in
non-immunized people of any age.
Symptoms include runny nose, red eyes, hacking cough and a
fever of about 40.6 degrees Celsius.
Measles can be prevented by a vaccine that can be given before
or within three days after exposure to the disease.
In most children, the vaccine is given as part of their mumps-
measles-rubella immunization program at the age of 15 months and
at 11 years to 12 years.