North Sumatra running out of measles vaccines amid increasing cases

SUMATRA - The number of measles suspects in North Sumatra skyrocketed as of April but the province is running out of measles rubella (MR) vaccines stock amid the increasing trend of cases.

North Sumatra Health Agency recorded 748 cases as of April 30 with 51 cases testing positive after laboratory tests.

The number increased significantly when compared to March 5 data, with only 387 cases.

Agency secretary Hamid Rijal said the highest concentration of measles cases was in Medan city and regencies of Deli Serdang and Simalungun.

These three areas have been declared as an “extraordinary occurrence (KLB)”.

The situation is worsened with low basic and complete immunisation in hot spots.

“In Medan city, complete baby immunisation only reached 7.6 percent in April. In Simalungun it was 22.77 per cent and in Deli Serdang it was 31.48 per cent,” he said on May 13.

“Although we have KLB status in several city and regency, the provincial administration has yet to declare KLB status at the provincial level.”

Dr Hamid acknowledged that handling measles in the province was getting more difficult with the empty stock of MR vaccines at the provincial level.

He said that earlier this year, there was also empty MR vaccine stock for about two months. In addition to empty vaccine stock, there are still residents who refuse to be vaccinated.

“Many of those who refuse to get vaccinated because of hoaxes saying vaccines are dangerous for human body,” he said.

He said that so far, provincial budget was not enough to increase vaccination reach.

This is a big challenge because residents’ mobility in North Sumatra is very high, with a risk of accelerated contagion across regions.

However, he said the health agency would still catch-up the gap through outbreak response immunisation (ORI) and PENARI immunization catch-up in a week program.

Meanwhile, chairman of North Sumatra chapter of the Indonesian Public Health Experts Association (IAKMI), Destanul Aulia, said the high measles cases in North Sumatra was probably the result of combination from several factors, such as uneven vaccination level among cities and regencies, high residents’ mobility and possible tardiness in cases detection and response.

He said that in the handling guidelines for measles KLB, immunisation response must be conducted immediately.

Ideally, immunisation is conducted in less than seven days after indications of outbreak emerged.

“Herd immunity is not yet optimum in North Sumatra. It can only be achieved when most of the population has immunity so contagion can be reduced significantly,” he told The Jakarta Post on May 15.

Dr Destanul said the immunity could be disrupted if immunisation cover was not even with pockets of population not yet reached by health services or a reduced trust for vaccines among the public.

He added that based on field data, the challenges were real. He said there were still problems in booster immunization reach in the province in 2025, such as limited access, lack of understanding and education and doubts on immunisation to prevent several diseases.

“These problems open the gap for contagion,” he said, adding that scientifically the phenomenon also takes place in other countries, not only in Indonesia. THE JAKARTA POST/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK