Although Monkey Smallpox Has Entered Jakarta, DKI Health Office Ensures There Are No Cases Of Local Transmission In DKI

Cases of monkeypox or monkeypox. (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - Head of the Disease Prevention and Control Division of the DKI Health Office, Dwi Oktavia, confirmed that there had been no local transmission or transmission of monkeypox or monkeypox in Jakarta. Although one positive case of monkeypox has been confirmed in the capital.

"We know the situation in Jakarta, we have only found one confirmed case. We haven't found any locally transmitted cases in Jakarta," said Dwi when contacted, Thursday, August 25.

Then, regarding the three close contacts of the first monkeypox case, they are still being monitored by the Health Service. So far, the three suspects have not shown symptoms similar to monkeypox.

So, according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization or WHO, the three monkeypox suspects had not received a PCR swab examination before the symptoms of the disease appeared.

"In close contact, the important thing to do is to monitor the progress of the person every day. If for example he has health complaints such as rashes on the skin, then there is only specimen collection on the skin area that has symptoms," said Dwi.

Meanwhile, responding to two Makassar residents who were suspected of having monkeypox after traveling to Jakarta, Dwi said there was a potential for the patient to be exposed to monkeypox before arriving in Jakarta.

"If we take the example of a case from a person from Makassar who then had a travel history from Jakarta and then he was determined as a monkeypox suspect. That was because of his previous trip to Jakarta, so maybe he was in Jakarta for a while," said Dwi.

"So, we are waiting for the results of the confirmation examination in Makassar. Hopefully it will be negative, yes, because we have not found any local transmission in Jakarta," he continued.

For information, 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 1-3 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 which then become scabs and fall off. The number of lesions or sores or blisters filled with fluid on the skin can be few or few scattered fruits.

Besides being able to be transmitted through direct contact from sick animals to humans, monkeypox can also be transmitted between humans and through objects contaminated with viruses. However, transmission of monkeypox between humans is not easy.

Transmission from human to human 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 eating utensils or dishes that have not been washed.