Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Health is strengthening healthcare facilities to deal with cases of acute hepatitis of unknown origin in children.
"We are working to strengthen health service facilities with referral hospitals to handle severe acute hepatitis cases such as at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Disease Hospital (RSPI) Jakarta," spokesperson for the Health Ministry, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, informed on Friday.
She said efforts to strengthen health facilities in all regions are a strategic step taken by the government to prevent the spread of acute hepatitis.
"This includes laboratory tests to establish a definite diagnosis related to the cause of this severe acute hepatitis," Tarmizi added.
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The Ministry of Health has appointed the Laboratory of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia (FKUI), as a reference laboratory for examining acute hepatitis specimens.
In addition, the Ministry of Health has also sent a letter of vigilance to the provincial and district/city health services, namely Circular Letter Number HK.02.02/C/2515/2022 concerning Precautions for the Discovery of Acute Hepatitis Cases of Unknown Etiology.
Tarmizi said that efforts are needed to increase awareness, prevention, and control of acute hepatitis infection in children. All cases with symptoms similar to mysterious acute hepatitis must be reported immediately.
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Lead scientist for acute hepatitis, Hanifa Oswari, said that people must exercise vigilance against the disease, but remain calm.
"If you are sick, especially if you have gastrointestinal symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain with low-grade fever, be careful because this can lead to severe allergies," Oswari cautioned.
People with these symptoms are advised to immediately seek medical help to determine whether further examination is needed or not. Medical teams will need to detect cases as early as possible for better treatment.
"The Ministry of Health and experts have been mobilized to solve this problem together," Oswari said.
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