"The second dose of mpox vaccine has been administered since Tuesday (November 21). In total, we have disbursed 1.000 doses of mpox vaccine for 495 people in two vaccination batches," said Ngabila Salama, the health service's Head of the Epidemiological Surveillance and Immunization Department, on Wednesday.
She noted that the second dose of mpox vaccine is given 28 days after the first dose. Currently, 13 people have received the second dose of vaccination, while the process is underway for the rest of them.
The Jakarta Health Office administered the first dose of vaccine during the period from October 23 to November 3, 2023. The Health Ministry also provided 4,500 doses of mpox vaccine and 1,008 bottles of the tecovirimat antiviral arriving at the end of this month as an effort to treat mpox patients.
According to latest data from the health service, 24 of the 41 mpox patients in Jakarta throughout the year have completed isolation or been declared cured.
"There are 41 mpox positive cases this year. Some 24 patients have recovered and completed their isolation," Salama remarked.
She revealed that a total of 41 cases involve men between the ages of 25 and 50 who experienced mild symptoms and were infected through sexual contact. The remaining 17 patients are still in isolation at the hospital.
She also noted that two other people were suspected of having mpox symptoms, while 132 people tested negative on PCR tests.
She said that her office will continue to monitor the development of mpox in Jakarta and other regions until November 24, 2023.
Based on data from November 21, 2023, mpox cases were also found in Indonesia, with six cases each in West Java and Banten, and one case each in East Java and Riau Islands.
This monitoring was conducted based on predictions of incubation of the mpox virus, which is twice the longest incubation period, or six weeks from October 13, 2023, or since the first case of local transmission was found in Indonesia.
The Jakarta government also conducts contact tracing with a special team and partners. The team is responsible for processing, tracing, and monitoring people who came into close contact with mpox-infected individuals.
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Translator: Siti Nurhaliza, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Anton Santoso
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