TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Head of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Immunization Department of the Jakarta Health Office Ngabila Salama stated that the 27 patients of monkeypox or mpox are still isolated and receive treatment at the hospital. All patients showed light symptoms of monkeypox, Ngabila said.

"All of them were infected through sexual contacts, all male aged 25 to 50 years old," Ngabila related through a brief text message on Monday, November 6.

Jakarta Health Office recorded 27 confirmed cases of monkeypox as of November 5, and with the additional recovered patient in August 2022, the total of monkeypox confirmed cases in Indonesia amounted to 28 people.

According to Ngabila, there are no new cases of monkeypox, nor are there suspected cases at this time. PCR tests administered to 79 suspects all came back negative.

From the 28 confirmed cases in Jakarta, Ngabila added, all of them were infected through sexual contact, similar to the global data which showed 95 percent of the transmission cause being sexual contact.

"Globally, 5 percent of the transmissions were caused by droplets, infecting children, pregnant people, and the elderly which constituted another vulnerable group," she said.

Ngabila hoped that monkeypox would not spread further since the government has closely observed and conducted early detection of suspected cases. She added that the supervision must be tightened, especially in big cities with high mobility and activity.

"[Supervision] can be conducted by looking for active cases, especially at key populations and people with sexually transmitted infection symptoms or people with pox and a history of risky sexual relations (oral and genital)," she concluded.

AISYAH AMIRA WAKANG

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