"Children, especially babies, can be more susceptible to the disease," IDAI Chairman Piprim Basarah Yanuarso noted at an online press conference, which was followed from Jakarta on Tuesday.
Therefore, parents need to be extra careful to protect their children from the infectious disease, namely by creating a safe environment, he added.
So far, there is no specific vaccine to prevent monkeypox, Yanuarso pointed out. Therefore, parents must also teach their children to apply clean and healthy behavior (PHBS) to prevent all kinds of infectious diseases.
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"In general, PHBS must be carried out to prevent the spread of this disease," he stressed.
At the same press conference, head of the monkeypox task force of the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI), Hanny Nilasari, urged the public to always comply with PHBS to reduce the risk of transmitting infectious diseases such as monkeypox.
In addition, people must carry out health protocols such as wearing masks and maintaining hand hygiene.
To prevent exposure to the monkeypox virus, people must avoid direct contact with animals that can transmit the virus, such as rodents, marsupials, and primates, whether dead or alive, Nilasari said.
Anyone experiencing a rash accompanied by fever or clinical symptoms of monkeypox must go to the local health service facility, she added.
"The public is advised to voluntarily provide honest information if they experience monkeypox symptoms or have contact with monkeypox patients," she said.
She urged citizens to remain vigilant considering that the monkeypox virus is currently circulating around the world. As of July 29, 2022, as many as 76 countries have reported monkeypox cases, with a total of 22,485 cases confirmed worldwide.
In ASEAN, three countries have reported cases of monkeypox as of the end of July, namely Singapore with eleven confirmed cases, Thailand with two confirmed cases, and the Philippines with one confirmed case.
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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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