Riau Health Office Finds 122 Cases Of 'King Of Lions' Disease

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JAKARTA - The Riau Health Office (Dinkes) for the January-May 2023 period found 122 cases of the disease of the king of lions or syphilics and the disease of Sexual Infection (IMS) in the province in January-May 2023. "From 122 cases, 69 patients have been treated," said Head of the Riau Health Office Zainal Arifin, Antara, Sunday, May 14.

Most, he said, in Dumai with 43 cases and 33 patients have received treatment. "Syphilic disease can be contagious so that married couples are advised to be loyal to their partners to avoid risky sex, as well as reduce the number of cases of the disease," he said. Syphilic cases spread in districts/cities in Riau except Siak, namely Dumai (43 cases), Indragiri Hilir (33 cases), Bengkalis (19 cases), Pelalawan (13 cases), Pekanbaru (5 cases), Rokan Hilir (3 cases) and Quantan Singingi (2 cases). Furthermore, Indragiri Hulu, Kampar, Meranti Islands, and Rokan Hulu, each case. "In 2022 there were 608 cases of siphilic in Riau and 317 patients who have been treated. The highest cases in Pekanbaru were 159 cases and Dumai 130 cases," he said. Meanwhile, based on data from the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes), syphilic diseases continued to increase in the last five years (2016-2022).

"From 12 thousand cases to almost 21 thousand cases with an average addition of cases each year reaching 17,000 to 20,000 cases. The percentage of patient treatment is relatively low," said Ministry of Health spokesman Muhammad Syahril.Pregnant mothers with practitioners treated only around 40 percent of patients. The remaining 60 percent did not receive treatment and have the potential to transmit and cause defects in children born. "The lack of treatment is due to stigma and shame elements. Every year out of five million pregnancies, only 25 percent of pregnant women are screened syphilically. Of the 1,2 million pregnant women as many as 5,590 pregnant women are positive for sifilis," said Syahril.