Bali Sends Surveillance Team to Investigate Cases of Acute Kidney Failure

DENPASAR - The Bali Provincial Health Office has dispatched a surveillance team to track cases of acute kidney failure in children in its area.

"There is a special team from the disease control department, they are on the move, they work directly on surveys in the community, especially those affected by the disease (acute kidney failure)", said the Head of the Bali Provincial Health Office, I Nyoman Gede Anom, in Denpasar on Friday, October 21.

He explained that the surveillance team, which included district and city Health Service officers, was dispatched to conduct a survey on the medicines that children usually take when they are sick and to check the condition of the children taking the medicine.

"They are experts, for example in an area there are how many babies there are, so a certain number of samples are taken to be sent directly to the center or the Ministry of Health, then they will be reported to us", he said.

During the survey, according to him, the surveillance officers will also provide counseling about a clean and healthy lifestyle.

"We hope that the public will accept it openly, and convey (answers) as it is to all questions from the team. That too is confidential, there will be no reason because this data is used to detect as early as possible if something is wrong", he said.

In addition to conducting surveys of residents, the surveillance team conducts examinations on under-five patients at the public health center (Puskesmas).

The decrease in the surveillance team is also aimed at detecting early cases of acute kidney disorders that have recently occurred in children.

According to data from the Health Service, there are 17 pediatric patients with acute kidney failure in Bali Province. Eleven of the acute kidney failure patients died and six others recovered after undergoing treatment at the hospital.

The Ministry of Health has instructed the temporary suspension of the sale and use of over-the-counter drugs and/or limited over-the-counter drugs in the form of liquid or syrup until there is an official announcement from the government. The instructions were delivered following the emergence of mysterious cases of acute kidney failure in children.

"I specially made an appeal letter to the Regency/City Health Office because the location of the pharmacy is in their area. I urge you for the time being not to prescribe syrup or liquid drugs, and pharmacies don't sell them yet", said Gede Anom.

"Indeed, while the research in Jakarta found that there were ingredients that exceeded the entry threshold for syrup drugs", he said.

According to the results of an examination conducted by the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM), five syrup drug products in Indonesia contain ethylene glycol (EG) contamination that exceeds the safe threshold.

The five products include Termorex Syrup (fever medicine) produced by PT Konimex, Flurin DMP Syrup (cough and flu medicine) produced by PT Yarindo Farmatama, and Unibebi Cough Syrup (cough and flu medicine), Unibebi Fever Syrup (fever medicine), and Unibebi Fever. Drops (fever medicine) produced by Universal Pharmaceutical Industries.

BPOM has ordered the pharmaceutical industry with distribution licenses for five syrups containing ethylene glycol contamination beyond the safe threshold to withdraw their syrup medicinal products from circulation throughout Indonesia and destroy all product batches.