However, negative information regarding vaccination could create misunderstanding among people about the importance of vaccinationJakarta (ANTARA) - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin confirmed that the government will commence mass polio vaccination in Pidie area, Aceh, next week after polio cases surfaced in the area that was declared as an Extraordinary Event (KLB).
"Next week, we will come to Pidie to conduct mass polio vaccination," Sadikin noted in Jakarta, Friday.
The minister urged the public to increase the coverage of polio vaccination to prevent reappearance of the disease that had not occurred in Indonesia for a long time.
Sadikin noted that polio had resurfaced due to the low number of polio vaccinations recorded in several districts in Indonesia. The phenomenon was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that made people reluctant to go to public places.
"However, negative information regarding vaccination could create misunderstanding among people about the importance of vaccination," he added.
Meanwhile, the Aceh Health Service said the total number of cases of polio, or type two paralysis, in the province were found in four people. One of them is still undergoing therapy at the Zainoel Abidin Regional General Hospital (RSUD) in Banda Aceh.
The first case is undergoing physiotherapy, while the other three cases are at their respective homes since they are asymptomatic.
Three children, who were infected with the polio virus, reportedly had the same cause as the first case, as they did not have a complete history of basic immunization. Thus, they were at high risk of contracting the virus.
On Thursday, Chairman of the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI), Dr Piprim Basarah Yanuarso, reminded the public to not hesitate to give polio vaccination to their children since the risk of the vaccine's side-effects was far lighter than exposure to polio.
Side-effects that can occur after a child receives vaccination are usually fever and swelling at the injection site. However, that risk is far better than being stricken by the polio virus and resulting in children becoming paralyzed for the rest of their lives.
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Translator: Nanien Yuniar, Resinta S
Editor: Sri Haryati
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