"Acute hepatitis is officially published as an outbreak by the World Health Organization (WHO), because the number of reports of similar cases continues to grow," Chairperson of the Executive Board of the Indonesian Medical Association, Adib Khumaidi, noted in an official statement received here on Tuesday.
Khumaidi pointed out that over 170 cases of acute hepatitis, with no known cause, had been reported from 12 countries in the world.
In the written statement, they reported a chronological fact sheet of case findings based on reports from the WHO and Health Ministry.
On 5 April 2022, the United Kingdom reported 10 cases of mysterious pediatric hepatitis. All of the children afflicted were hospitalized. None of the known viral causes, ranging from Hepatitis A to E viruses, had been detected during laboratory examination.
Further investigations were conducted on April 8, 2022, and 74 cases were found in the United Kingdom. Six children have undergone liver transplant surgery.
No deaths were reported on April 11, 2022. On April 21, 2022, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland reported as many as 114 cases.
Among the total cases reported, 13 were from Spain, 12 from Israel, nine from the United States, six from Denmark, less than five from Ireland, four cases from the Netherlands, four from Italy, two from Norway, one case from France and Romania, and one more from Belgium.
On April 2022, Japan and Canada reported similar cases. On May 2022, Singapore reported two cases of mysterious hepatitis, while Indonesia found three similar cases.
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Spokesperson of the Health Ministry Siti Nadia Tarmizi stated that the three patients were children treated at the Dr Ciptomangunkusumo General Hospital, Jakarta, with suspected acute hepatitis, who passed away in a different time period from the last two weeks to April 30, 2022.
"These three patients were referred from hospitals in East Jakarta and West Jakarta," she stated.
Symptoms found in these patients were nausea, vomiting, severe diarrhea, fever, jaundice, seizures, and decreased consciousness, Tarmizi detailed.
Currently, the Health Ministry is expediting an investigation into the causes of acute hepatitis through a complete virus panel examination. The Jakarta Health Office is conducting further epidemiological investigations.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
