Monkeypox Found In Indonesia, Jokowi: No Need To Panic

ILLUSTRATION DOK VOI

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) appealed to the public not to panic after the discovery of monkey pox cases in the country. According to him, this disease is transmitted through direct contact, not through droplets.

"We don't need to panic because the transmission is through direct contact, not through droplets," said Jokowi, which was broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube, Tuesday, August 22.

Jokowi also ensured that the government continues to make preparations to deal with monkeypox. In addition to ordering Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin to provide vaccines, Jokowi also asked entry gates to Indonesia to be strictly checked.

"I have ordered the Minister of Health, regarding vaccines immediately. Second, for places with high interaction, then the entrance gates to our country are strictly checked," he said.

"I think the most important thing is our readiness to face it," he continued.

Previously reported, the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) has announced the findings of the first case of monkeypox in Indonesia in a 27-year-old male patient who lives in DKI Jakarta.

The patient experienced health complaints a few days after returning to Indonesia after a tourist trip to several countries in Western Europe on August 8, 2022.

Furthermore, the DKI Jakarta Health Service said there were three people who were close contacts in the first confirmed case of monkeypox. All three are in good health and have no health complaints.

The symptoms of monkeypox generally begin with fever, headache, and swollen lymph nodes found in the neck, armpit, or groin (groin).

In addition, these common symptoms can be accompanied by complaints of muscle aches, backaches, and prolonged fatigue.

After 1 day to 3 days since the fever, symptoms will be followed by the appearance of a rash on the skin in several parts of the body, in the form of red spots like smallpox, small blisters filled with clear fluid or filled with pus, then become scabs and fall off.

Monkeypox, apart from being transmitted through direct contact from sick animals to humans, can also be transmitted between humans and through objects contaminated with viruses.

However, transmission of monkeypox between humans is not easy. For human-to-human transmission, it can be through close contact with droplets, body fluids or direct skin-to-skin contact with rashes, including through sexual contact.

Transmission can also occur through indirect contact with contaminated objects, such as clothes, bedding, towels, or unwashed eating utensils/plates.