Vice President Ensures Government Prepares Steps To Prevent The Spread Of Monkeypox

Deputy President KH Ma'ruf Amin. (ANTARA/Desca Lidya Natalia)

JAKARTA - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin said the government had taken steps to prevent the spread of monkeypox.

"The government has actually prepared preventive measures. I think the Ministry of Health is ready to take precautions," said Vice President Ma'ruf Amin in Jakarta as reported by ANTARA, Monday, August 22.

On August 20, the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) announced the findings of the first confirmed case of monkeypox in Indonesia in a 27-year-old male patient who lives in DKI Jakarta.

It is known that 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.

"Actually, it has been anticipated since the beginning, for the existence of monkeypox that is abroad but was only detected today, it has already entered," added the Vice President.

According to the DKI Jakarta Health Office, 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.