Starfruit (malangkota.go.id) – The Malang City Health Office (Dinkes) has made various efforts to prevent diphtheria. One of them is by carrying out Outbreak Response Immunization (ORI) immunization. Quoted from several literatures, diphtheria is a disease that attacks the upper respiratory system and throat.
This condition causes dead tissue membranes to build up in the throat and tonsils. As a result, people with diphtheria have difficulty breathing and swallowing. In advanced stages, the Corynebacterium Diphtheriae bacteria can produce toxins that can cause disorders in other parts of the body such as the skin, heart and nerves.
Even diphtheria has the potential to be life-threatening if not treated immediately. Diphtheria is a contagious disease that can spread through coughing, sneezing and open wounds from infected people.
The intensification of these preventive measures is due to two cases of diphtheria that attacked children in the Kedungkandang District, Malang City, causing death some time ago.
Head of Disease Prevention and Control of the Malang City Health Office Meifta Eti Winindar, Saturday (2/9/2023) revealed that diphtheria attacks children aged five and eight years old. The cause is bacteria and incomplete immunization from an early age.
"The five-year-old child has been declared cured because the clinical symptoms point to diphtheria but the laboratory results are negative. Meanwhile, the eight-year-old died because he tested positive for diphtheria whose bacteria had spread. Meanwhile, he did not have immunity because he did not receive sufficient immunization," he explained.
Meifta said that ORI immunization is given to children aged 1-15 years. The types of immunization given for ages 1-5 years are Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus (DPT), Hepatitis B (HB) and Haemophilius Influenze (Hib). For ages 5-7 years get Diphtheria Tetanus (DT) and ages 7-15 years get Tetanus immunization (Td).
"For example, for toddlers up to 6 years old, they can get immunizations as intended. Then for women of childbearing age, they must get a tetanus vaccine (TT). Indeed, if their immunity has decreased, they must be injected again and that has been determined by the Indonesian Ministry of Health," he explained.
Furthermore, the woman in the hijab emphasized that residents must obey and implement all of that. It must also be realized that the consequences of not carrying out complete immunization will be fatal. "This is not only for the person concerned but also for others who could be at risk of infection," concluded Meifta. (say/yon)
