April 21, 2026 | 10:12 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - THE activities of the infectious disease special team at Dr. Mohammad Hoesin Central General Hospital in Palembang, South Sumatra, have returned to what they were when the Covid-19 pandemic struck six years ago. The unit, comprising 50 health workers and formed during the coronavirus outbreak, is now receiving dozens of patients infected with the measles virus. Most of them are children.
Harun Hudari, Head of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Team at the hospital, said his team has found a new pattern of measles transmission, with the virus now infecting adults. Harun said he encounters at least two adult cases per week of the virus that causes red rashes on the skin. “In the past, cases among adults were very rare,” Harun said in Palembang on Wednesday, April 15, 2026.
At Harun’s hospital, no measles patients have died so far. However, the internal medicine specialist said he has found patients arriving with complications such as pneumonia. Patients with comorbidities must be treated in special wards. “Isolation rooms are limited,” he said.
Measles has spread across South Sumatra since early 2026. Four regencies and cities—Palembang, Prabumulih, Banyuasin, and North Musi Rawas—have declared an extraordinary occurrence status. The South Sumatra Health Office recorded 1,576 suspected measles cases, 446 of which are confirmed positive.
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