The Transition From The Endemic To The Pandemic, This Is A Disease That Is Wary Of The Ministry Of Health Apart From Long COVID

Illustration of handling COVID-19 patients. (Between)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) is wary of various diseases other than COVID-19, which have emerged during the transition from pandemic to endemic in Indonesia.

"I remind the public again, there are diseases that need to be watched out for in addition to the new variants of COVID-19 and long COVID which are now experiencing around 30 percent of the population of survivors in Indonesia," said Ministry of Health spokesman Mohammad Syahril in an online 'Workshop Transition from a pandemic to an endemic', Friday, February 17, was confiscated by Antara.

The diseases in question include Polio, which is now an Extraordinary Incident (KLB) in Pidie Aceh, although Indonesia had released the status since 2014.

The Ministry of Health in November 2022 announced a case of Polio experienced by a child aged 7 years and 2 months in Pidie Regency. From the test results, the child has a Type 2 Polio Virus and Type 3 Sabin.

According to the Ministry of Health's Emerging Infection official website, so far there is no drug that can be used to cure polio.

However, treatment for sufferers can still be done to relieve symptoms. One of the treatments that can be done is physical therapy that can be useful for stimulating muscles.

Next are Campak disease reported from 12 provinces with KLB status, namely Aceh, West Sumatra, Riau, North Sumatra, Jambi, West Java, Banten, Central Java, East Java, North Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara, and Papua. The number of cases reported was 3,341 patients.

"Be aware of other infectious and non-communicable diseases, especially acute kidneys that we are still continuing to handle," he said.

Cases of Atypical Acute Respiratory Disorder (GGAPA) this year were reported from DKI Jakarta as many as two cases. One of them died and the rest had suspected status and had recovered.

With the report of additional new cases of GGAPA, as of February 5, 2023, there were 326 cases of GGAPA and one suspect spread across 27 provinces in Indonesia. Of these, 116 cases were declared cured.

The last disease that needs to be watched out for is the trend of increasing the rate of diabetes mellitus cases in children in Indonesia. The Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI) reported that the number of patients as of January 2023 reached 1,645 patients.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus cases in children increased by 70 times over the period 2010 to 2023 by referring to reports from 13 cities in Indonesia.

Diabetes is basically divided into two types, namely type 1 and 2 diabetes. In cases of type 1 diabetes, the child's body can no longer produce insulin hormones that are useful for controlling blood sugar levels.

Meanwhile, diabetes 2 is a more chronic condition, where metabolism and the process of converting sugar into energy are disrupted.