Patient Accused Of COVID, Cipayung Hospital Denies

Illustrated (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - A TikTok social media account with the name @tirtasiregar shared a video statement that the Cipayung Regional General Hospital (RSUD) had a patient, namely his mother. The video went viral.

However, Cipayung Regional Hospital Director Ekonugroho Budhi Prasetyo denied that his party intentionally made one of the patients declared exposed to COVID-19.

Eko explained, initially the patient with the initials M, who was 64 years old, went to Cipayung Hospital on February 16, 2022 at 22:15 WIB. He came with complaints of cough and shortness of breath since a week earlier.

Patient M at that time brought the results of the rapid antigen swab examination carried out 5 days earlier with negative results.

Seeing the condition of the patient who had symptoms such as COVID-19, the doctor at the Cipayung Hospital decided to carry out an antigen test and re-PCR. Moreover, these patients have comorbidities.

"Based on the doctor's examination, taking into account the condition of the patient at that time, with a course of illness that had lasted for one week, plus patients who were elderly and had comorbid hypertension and asthma, the doctor planned to carry out a rapid antigen re-examination as well as a PCR examination," said Ekonugroho in his statement, Monday, February 21.

Given the time needed to wait for the results of the PCR test to come out, the hospital asked for written approval from the family regarding the plan for examination and temporary placement of the patient, before confirming whether the patient had COVID-19 or not.

"This is done in order to minimize the possibility of transmission within the hospital and to ensure that patients with COVID-19 are not treated in the same area as non-COVID-19 patients," said Ekonugroho.

However, it turned out that the family thought that the procedure was an attempt to treat the patient with COVID. Thus, the family refuses to follow the patient's treatment plan and then takes the patient home. In fact, said Ekonugroho, the rapid antigen examination at the beginning of the illness, like the one done by patient M, may still give negative results because the amount of virus is still too low to be detected by the test. rapid antigens.

Therefore, it can only be detected by a PCR test. Considering that PCR examination has the highest level of accuracy so that it becomes the main reference for making a diagnosis of COVID-19.

"After a few days of illness, when the number of viruses increases, then it can only be detected, either by rapid antigen or PCR tests. This is often found in everyday situations, so it is not uncommon to need a re-examination to determine whether someone is definitely suffering from COVID-19 or not," he explained.