JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Mohammad Syahril, said reinfection in patients recovering from acute hepatitis is possible if they come into contact with the source of infection.
"But there is a question, can you get it again (acute hepatitis)? If you find the source of the infection again, then reinfection can occur in both COVID-19 and hepatitis," he said when delivering a press statement at the Ministry of Health Building in Jakarta, Antara, Wednesday, 18 May.
He said the suspected cases of acute hepatitis as of Tuesday, May 17 in Indonesia had become 14 cases. Consisting of one probable case and 13 pending classification cases. Of that number, he said, all were negative for COVID-19.
"There are four who recovered, clinically there are no more complaints, the laboratory is normal and not contagious anymore," he said.
Until now, one patient is being treated in East Java, two patients in DKI Jakarta, one patient in Jambi. "If you are still being treated, it means you can't go home because the laboratory results are not okay. It could be that the pending results will be different," he said.
Generally, the patient's symptoms are characterized by yellow discoloration of the skin around the eyes and body. "Indeed, the bilirubin increases, but the causes are different, such as a newborn baby, or there is also medication," he said.
Syahril, who also serves as President Director of the Sulianti Saroso Hospital in Jakarta, said that previously seven probable patients in Indonesia died, allegedly due to exposure to severe acute hepatitis in children under the age of 16, whose cause was unknown.
In detail, four cases of child death occurred in DKI Jakarta, one death case from Tulungagung Regency, East Java, one death case in Solok, West Sumatra and one child death case in East Kalimantan.
All of the dead cases arrived at the hospital under emergency conditions and were finally declared dead. "There were seven cases of death, before they came in serious condition. On average they had seizures and decreased consciousness until they died," he said.
He added that until now experts in 27 countries have not agreed on the cause of acute hepatitis with severe symptoms in children. Meanwhile, Indonesia is still waiting for the definition of confirmation of the mysterious hepatitis from the experts.
"We are waiting for experts in the world. In Indonesia, we follow the pattern abroad. We have prepared them in the national laboratory," said Mohammad Syahril.
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