I'm Well! The Condition Of The First Confirmed Monkeypox Patient In Jakarta Improves

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JAKARTA - Head of the DKI Jakarta Health Office, Widyastuti, revealed that currently the condition of the patient with the first confirmed case of monkey pox found in Jakarta is in good condition.

"The patient is quite cooperative and open with our team. The patient's condition has also improved," said Widyastuti in a statement, Monday, August 22.

Widyastuti said, the positive patient for the monkeypox case initially experienced health complaints for several days after returning to Indonesia, after a tour of several countries in Western Europe. Symptoms include fever and rash in several parts of the body.

This 27-year-old man has returned to Indonesia since August 8, 2022. After performing a PCR test, he tested positive for monkeypox on August 19, 2022.

Since the discovery of the first case, the DKI Health Office has carried out contact tracing and resulted in 3 close contacts.

"So far, the results of tracing from the DKI Jakarta Provincial Health Office have found 3 close contacts, all three of whom are in good condition and have no health complaints," said Widyastuti.

Prior to the discovery of this first case, the government had conducted an epidemiological investigation on 11 suspected people found since May 20, 2022, all of whom after going through laboratory tests were found to be negative for monkeypox.

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 unwashed cutlery/plates.