Struggling Against the Measles Outbreak

Adiva did not expect her 9-month-old child to contract measles amid the spreading outbreak. Initial symptoms appeared a day after Eid when her usually active child suddenly became sullen, fussy, and developed a fever of 38.6 degrees Celsius.

Initially, Adiva thought the condition was just due to fatigue and exposure to crowds during Eid. She and her husband had even tried to keep their child from physical contact with others. However, after temporarily subsiding with paracetamol, the child’s condition worsened after the return journey.

“Returning to Jakarta, that’s when there were signs that Adik had measles. The fever went up and down to 40 degrees for four days, cough, runny nose, vomiting, diarrhoea. My husband and I immediately went to the nearest community health centre, and Adik was diagnosed positive for measles,” Adiva told detikX last week.

Before the infection, her child had not yet received the measles vaccine because she had just turned nine months old during Eid. Vaccination can only be given after that age. According to her, the doctor explained that the vaccination delay was not due to parental negligence, but rather the child’s age not yet meeting the requirements.

After the child was confirmed positive, health workers required home isolation for two weeks. She was also warned to avoid contact with other children to prevent virus spread, especially when the rash began to appear.

Adiva suspects the source of transmission points to one of her relative’s children who had just recovered from measles. Three days after recovering, her nephew hugged Adiva’s baby.

“It’s undeniable, the measles virus is frightening,” she said.

Although medical services were generally deemed adequate, Adiva admitted to facing serious obstacles in the referral process. After being referred from the community health centre to the hospital, she had to wait for hours for blood tests, X-rays, and an isolation room to become available.

After that, her baby finally received intensive treatment in the emergency department. This experience led Adiva to assess that vigilance against measles transmission needs to be expanded, not only from general crowds but also from contact with individuals who have just recovered from infection.

Adiva’s child is not alone. The Ministry of Health states that the spread of measles in Indonesia remains a serious threat. Ministry data shows around 2,220 weekly cases in the first week of 2026. Although it dropped to 334 cases in week 15, the government emphasises that local surges in several areas remain potential and must be responded to quickly.

Acting Director General of Disease Control and Prevention at the Ministry of Health, Dr Andi Saguni, mentioned that the increase in cases from late 2025 to early 2026 was mainly triggered by two main factors. Both are incomplete immunisation coverage and high community mobility.

“The main causes of the increase in measles cases are first immunisation, and second, mobility,” Andi told detikX.

According to the Ministry of Health, measles is not a disease heavily influenced by seasons, but the pattern of increases often occurs at the end and beginning of the year when mobility increases. Such as long holidays, school entrances, or Eid homecoming. In this condition, infected children can accelerate spread when moving between regions.

Nationally, the measles-rubella immunisation coverage for the first dose (MR1) in 2024 reached 92 percent, while the second dose (MR2) was 78.3 percent. In 2025, those figures declined to 82 percent for MR1 and 77 percent for MR2. This decline is seen as directly correlating with the increase in cases.

The national target is actually 95 percent for MR1 and at least 80 percent for MR2, with encouragement towards equivalent coverage to form optimal herd immunity.

In case management, the government emphasises strengthening tiered surveillance from community health centres, hospitals, districts/cities, to the central level to detect cases earlier. Every identified case will be followed by patient tracking, evaluation of care needs, contact restrictions with others, and education to the public on clean and healthy living behaviours as additional prevention steps.

Although measles in many cases is self-limiting or can heal on its own, the Ministry of Health warns that this disease can become dangerous when complications arise, such as pneumonia or malnutrition conditions, which can increase the risk of death. Therefore, vaccination remains viewed as the most effective prevention tool, while controlling close contacts in the community is deemed much more difficult due to the high population mobility.

In areas with high case surges, the government implements an agglomeration approach, namely a handling response not only focused on affected areas but also surrounding regions through catch-up immunisation, strict monitoring, and education to suppress inter-regional spread.

Through this strategy, Indonesia targets measles elimination by 2030. This effort relies on stable vaccine availability, consistent distribution, and increased public trust in immunisation. Nationally, the most infected group so far is individuals who have never received the measles vaccine at all or have not completed the two recommended doses.

Nevertheless, increases in measles cases in several areas still occur. Data shows that low immunisation coverage remains the most dominant factor in the spread of this highly contagious disease. Data from Garut Regency and Aceh Province illustrate how vaccination gaps over the past few years have contributed to surging cases.

In Garut Regency, up to the end of April, there were 110 positive measles cases, a sharp increase compared to a total of 32 cases throughout the previous year. Cases are spread across around 36 sub-districts, with nearly half concentrated in Pamengpeuk, Cibalong, and Cikelet—areas said to have lower immunisation achievement compared to others.