The Ministry Of Health Notes Elephant Foot Patients In Indonesia Capai 8,635 People

Illustration of people with elephant legs or filariasis transmitted through mosquitoes. (Between)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) noted that the number of people with elephant legs or filariasis in Indonesia reached 8,635 people based on data collected in 2022.

"There are 8,635 registered filarary cases (in 2022). We have data by name by address," said the Director of Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases at the Ministry of Health, Imran Pambudi at the NTD s Day Media Meeting which was attended in Jakarta, Monday, January 30, was confiscated by Antara.

Imran said the situation of filaration in Indonesia is still concerning. A total of 236 regencies/cities in 28 provinces in Indonesia are endemic filariasis regions.

"Only 32 regencies/cities have been certified as filariasis elimination, while five other regencies/cities will only receive certificates in February 2023. This means that 178 other regencies/cities are still in the surveillance stage before the elimination assessment," he said.

In the results of the 2022 National Filariasic Situation Analysis, the Ministry of Health found that there were five provinces with the highest number of cases, namely Papua 3,629 cases, West Papua 620 cases, NTT 1,276 cases, Aceh 507 cases, and West Java 424 cases.

While the situation of elephant feet globally, about 1 billion people living in 72 filarias endemic countries, 120 million of whom were positive for elephant feet. With the number of people who have disabilities in the world, there are 36 million people.

Imran explained that the Ministry of Health has two main strategies in dealing with filariasis, namely holding Mass Prevention Drugs (POPM) in 21 regencies/cities spread across Indonesia.

"We give medicine once a year for five consecutive years and the target is that all residents are aged 2-70 years," he said.

Then, monitor the implementation of filaRIAs cases to prevent and limit defects by ensuring the availability of minimum care packages such as acute attacks, lymphedem management, hydrokel management, and the availability of filarial and other symptomatic drugs.

University of Indonesia Parasiologist Taniawati Supali added that the elephant's feet were caused by a filarial worm deposited in the human lymph tract, especially in the groin.

In Indonesia, elephant legs can occur due to three worm species, namely wuchereria batonzi, brugia maki, and brugia timori.

"We are a bit lucky because there are not so many in Indonesia, but (cing) brancofties in dangerous urban areas such as (which happened in) Central Java and Bekasi," said Tania.

He explained that in the early stages the patient still felt healthy and there was no swelling. However, in the night blood diagnosis, a worm will be found.

In early symptoms, sufferers will feel fever without taking medication can be lost on their own but it occurs repeatedly and then swelling begins to appear in the motional apparatus which initially swelled normally.

Tania emphasized that the elephant leg infection cannot be taken lightly because infections from brancofte worms can trigger nearly all parts of the body, including sexual organs. In men, swelling can occur in the scrotum, while for women it can hit the breasts and vulva.

He reminded that apart from swelling, the elephant's feet can be transmitted by animals to humans, although further research is needed regarding the characteristics of animals that have the potential to transmit the infection.

"This needs to be remembered, filariasis transmission can also occur due to worm infections carried by animals. For example, cats or dogs," he concluded.