Polio cases in Indonesia: How they came about

From October 2022 to February 2023, Indonesia reported four polio cases with three cases occurring in Aceh province and one case in West Java province. In the early January 2024 with the discovery of one positive case of polio in Manisrenggo, Klaten, the area was declared an KLB (Extraordinary Event) area.

Oral poliovirus vaccines (OPV) are the predominant vaccine used in the fight to eradicate polio – Getty Images. Credit: Riza Azhari/Getty Images

Even though there are only a few cases, considering that polio is an infectious disease, the Indonesian government needs to treat it seriously. To SBS AUDIO, Dr dr FX Wikan Indrarto, a pediatrician at Panti Rapih Hospital, Jogyakarta, explained how polio is transmitted and efforts to prevent infectious diseases that should no longer exist in Indonesia.  

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