DKI Provincial Government Asked To Move Quickly To Face Mysterious Acute Hepatitis

UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairperson of Commission E of the DKI Jakarta DPRD, Anggara Wicitra Sastroamidjojo, asked the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government to be serious about moving quickly to deal with the circulation of the mysterious acute hepatitis disease.

This is because, said the politician from the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), this acute hepatitis disease has claimed three lives in pediatric patients in Jakarta, namely at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital.

"We have to raise the alarm again because WHO has determined the increasing cases of acute hepatitis as an extraordinary event (KLB). Learn from experience, don't underestimate a disease that has just spread, especially this time the target is children, "Anggara was quoted as saying. Between, Wednesday, May 4th.

The chairman of the PSI faction said the role of the DKI Jakarta Health Service was very important in anticipating this spike in cases, especially in Circular No. HK.02.02/C/2515/2022, the Ministry of Health also asked for an active role from local governments.

"The DKI Jakarta Health Office must immediately coordinate intensely with the Ministry of Health to carry out investigations and 'tracing' in order to find the initial point of spread," said Anggara.

In addition, he also requested that socialization to the public regarding the spread of this disease can also be carried out by involving regional administrators.

"It is also important to carry out socialization to the community. It can involve RT, RW, or PKK cadres. However, the material distributed must be made as clear as possible, we certainly don't want to panic people who just want to be free from the COVID-19 pandemic," said Anggara.

The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) reported that three children were being treated at the Dr. Ciptomangunkusumo Jakarta died allegedly due to acute hepatitis, which is currently still a mystery.

The three patients who died died in the last two weeks until April 30, 2022.

The Ministry of Health said it was still investigating the cause of the acute hepatitis incident through a number of complete virus panel examinations.

"During the investigation period, we urge the public to be careful and remain calm," said Ministry of Health spokesman Dr. Siti Nadia Tirmizi in an official statement, Sunday (1/5).

The World Health Organization (WHO) noted that there were 169 cases of acute hepatitis of unknown origin in 11 regional countries in Europe and America as of April 21, 2022.

In detail, as many as 114 cases of acute hepatitis were reported from the UK. Next, Spain and Israel reported 13 cases and 12 cases of acute hepatitis, respectively. The United States has recorded nine cases of acute hepatitis.

This was followed by Denmark, Ireland, and the Netherlands with six cases of acute hepatitis, five cases and four cases respectively.

Norway and France reported two cases of acute hepatitis each. Meanwhile, Romania and Belgium each reported as many as one case of acute hepatitis.

WHO suspects, one of the causes of acute hepatitis infection is due to adenovirus. Adenoviruses are a large group of viruses that can infect both animals and humans.

In addition, the WHO refers to them as Adenoviruses because they are usually found in the adenoids or tonsils. According to the WHO report, as many as 74 cases out of a total of 169 confirmed cases of hepatitis were caused by Adenovirus.