We already found the medicine, it is called Fomepizole (injection)
Jakarta (ANTARA) - A cure for acute kidney injury (AKI) in children has been found with the government obtaining the appropriate medication, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Friday.

As soon as the government identified the cause, it sought medicines for infants entering hospitals, he informed during a press conference on acute kidney injury, which was held via Zoom.

"We already found the medicine, it is called Fomepizole (injection)," he said.

According to Sadikin, the medicine is not available in Indonesia yet, so it is still being imported from Singapore.

The medicine was tested on 10 AKI patients at the Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo National Central Public Hospital (RSCM) here, he said.

Fomepizole induced an improvement in the patients' symptoms while the condition of other body parts remained stable, he informed.

"Thus, we feel more confident that this medicine is effective. Now, the Indonesian government is importing (the medicine) even more for existing patients; since we already (know) what the causes are now, we can treat it," he added.

Sadikin said he expects Fomepizole, which has been tested in the past three days at RSCM, to stem the mortality rate among AKI patients, which has currently reached 133 out of 241 patients treated in 22 provinces.

In addition to addressing the source of the disease, the government is also performing therapy, he added.

The government has managed to uncover the cause of AKI based on an investigation of pathogens that contaminate syrup medicines, namely ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol (DEG), and ethylene glycol butyl ether (EGBE).

According to the results of a PCR and metagenomic examination, AKI is triggered by these chemical compounds, the minister informed.

"If these chemical compounds enter a human's metabolism, they transform the compound into oxalic acid," he explained.

"This is dangerous. If oxalic acid enters the kidney, it can become calcium oxalate, which is like a sharp tiny crystal that damages children's kidneys," he added.

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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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