Air Pollution Triggers An Increase In Cases Of ISPA And Pneumonia In Jabodetabek

Illustration of children in hospital treatment (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Head of the Infectious Disease Management Division of PB IDI, Agus Dwi Susanto, said that the high air pollution in the Jabodetabek area contributed to the increase in cases of acute respiratory tract infection or ISPA. According to Agus, this phenomenon is a short-term impact caused by the deteriorating air quality in the area. "If we see now that a lot of air pollution appears is a short-term or acute impact. Some existing data show that the increase in incidence of acute respiratory infection or ISPA is quite significant," said Agus, Tuesday 12 September. August explained, based on the report of the DKI Jakarta ISPA cluster team, there were around 100,000 cases of acute respiratory tract infections in the last 12 months. Based on the results of research, he continued, there was an increase in the number of cases of ISPA and pneumonia or around 20 percent to 30% if compared to the previous year. "As in hospitals the Friendship Hospital there was also an increase in cases of ISPA and outpatient pneumonia which increased by 20 percent to 30 percent compared to the same period last year," he said. Even though the triggering factor for pneumonia symptoms was not only pollution, Agus said, the increase in the number of pollutant matter (pm) 2.5 had contributed to increasing the number of cases of ISPA and pneumonia by around 20-25 Percent. "The pneumonia could occur in the risk factor is pollution if I'm not mistaken the number is about 20 to 25% and the other risk factors are not pollution, it means, the increase in the existing Pneumonia is not necessarily caused by its pollution but that pollution contributes to the increase in Pneumonia cases," he concluded.

Previously, the Director of Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases at the Ministry of Health, Imran Pambudi, said that cases of acute respiratory infection (ARI) in Jabodetabek reached 90,546 in a week, namely the period from August 29 to September 6, 2023. In fact, this increase in ARI cases did not only occur in the country, but also throughout the world. The Ministry of Health is still reviewing the relationship between the increasing number of ISPA cases and air pollution in Jakarta.