"This antidote has been recommended by the WHO with high effectiveness of over 90 percent," he informed while delivering a press statement on acute kidney injury via videoconferencing platform Zoom on Tuesday.
The government has imported Fomepizole to Indonesia, with 26 vials arriving from Singapore and 16 vials from Australia, he said.
"Next, the government will bring hundreds of vials from Japan and the United States. The total is around 200 vials," he added.
The antidote was tested on 10 out of 11 acute kidney injury patients at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM) here. Half of the patients recovered, while the condition of the other half was reported to be stable.
"The ones that we gave the medicine to were patients who showed symptoms of kidney injury suspected to be caused by poisoning," he informed.
"For instance, the frequency of their urination declined and their urine (volume) also decreased," he added.
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According to the medical guidelines on its usage, Fomepizole has to be injected five times.
"At RSCM, there are those that have received three and four injections, and they have shown improvement," Syahril informed.
The health improvement has been in the form of urine volume returning to normal and other symptoms starting to decrease, he said.
"In fact, the laboratory test result shows that the ethylene glycol (EG) content within the poisoned patients is no longer detected," he added.
After the patients are declared to have recovered, the provision of Fomepizole will be stopped, he said.
As of October 23, 2022, at least 38 acute kidney injury patients in Indonesia have been declared recovered after undergoing intensive treatment at hospitals.
As of October 24, a total of 255 acute kidney injury patients have been recorded in 26 provinces. At least 143 patients have succumbed to the condition, or equivalent to 56 percent of the total cases.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
