Director Of RSPI Sulianto Saroso: There Are 18 Cases Of Acute Hepatitis In 7 Provinces

ILLUSTRA TION BY VOI

JAKARTA - Director of the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital Jakarta, Mohammad Syahril, said that currently there were 18 confirmed cases of mysterious acute hepatitis in Indonesia.

Syahril explained, 18 cases of acute hepatitis were spread in North Sumatra with 1 case, West Sumatra with 1 case, Bangka Belitung Islands with 1 case, DKI Jakarta with 12 cases, West Java with 1 case, East Java with 1 case, and East Kalimantan. with 1 case.

"There are 18 symptomatic cases called acute hepatitis of unknown etiology or acute hepatitis whose cause is unknown," said Syahril at a virtual press conference, Friday, May 13.

More specifically, from the 18 cases of acute hepatitis, there were 9 patients who were male, 8 female, and 1 patient was still in the verification process.

Meanwhile, from the age range, patients were dominated by children, namely 4 people aged 0-4 years, 6 people aged 5-9 years old, 4 people aged 10-14 years old, and 15-20 years old as many as 4 people.

"Then out of these 18, 7 patients died, and 11 are still alive," said Syahril.

Syahril said that the most common symptoms for these 18 people were; fever, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, acute diarrhea, abdominal pain, joint pain, yellow eyes and skin, itching, cloudy urine like tea, and changes in stool color.

For information, the phenomenon of acute hepatitis with no known cause became the world's spotlight after the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) declared it an Extraordinary Event (KLB) on April 15, 2022. WHO received reports of 169 cases in 12 countries, including Indonesia.

Acute hepatitis is inflammation of the liver that occurs suddenly and can get worse quickly. Common symptoms of hepatitis include abdominal pain, jaundice, diarrhea, vomiting, urine discoloration, pale stools, high fever or a history of fever, and is characterized by elevated levels of liver enzymes.