Day: May 6, 2022

The West Papua Provincial Health Office has declared province-wide alert status over the emergence of acute hepatitis of mysterious origin that has been detected in Indonesia.

West Papua Health Office’s Disease Prevention and Control Department Head, Norma, stated that designation of the alert status aligns with the Health Ministry’s instruction on handling mysterious acute hepatitis cases.

“The alert status is nationwide, and in West Papua, we are instructing public and private hospitals as well as public health centres to report (to the authority) if they detected a sudden surge (in the number) of hepatitis cases in their region,” Norma stated here on Friday.

The department head also urged health officers at health service facilities to take proactive measures to detect hepatitis symptoms among infants and children in their respective work regions.

“Until now, West Papua has not recorded any acute hepatitis cases, but we will enhance our vigil by conducting blood sampling on infants and children that are suffering from symptoms of hepatitis as our early detection measures,” she remarked.

Acute hepatitis reported in several countries, including Indonesia, is different from other hepatitis variants, as the disease origin is currently unknown, Norma noted, adding that the mysterious acute hepatitis disease causes severe symptoms that could appear rapidly.

“In general, only hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E cases are recorded in Papua and West Papua. Mysterious acute hepatitis only infects children below 16 years of age, and most cases are recorded among children below 10 years of age,” the department head noted.

She urged residents to be cautious about symptoms of mysterious acute hepatitis among children.

“Symptoms of this disease are diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, stomach ache, and sometimes fever, as well as jaundiced eyes and skin,” Norma stated.

Source: Antara News

Some 93 earthquakes hit Sumba Island, East Nusa Tenggara Province, during the period from April 29 to May 5, 2022, according to the East Sumba Geophysics Station of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

Some 82 percent of the total events or 77 earthquakes were recorded to have a magnitude of lesser or equal to three, Head of the East Sumba Geophysics Station Kustoro Hariyatmoko noted in a statement here on Friday.

Hariyatmoko remarked that 18 earthquakes had magnitudes of between three and five or 17.2 percent of the total tremors.

Meanwhile, based on the depth, 73 tremors had an epicenter of less than 60 km, while 16 had an epicenter of more than 60 km.

Sumba Island is often rocked by earthquakes, as it is located at the boundary of two tectonic plates: the Indo-Australian plate and Eurasian plate.

On August 19, 1977, the southern part of Sumba Island was hit by a tsunami wave triggered by an earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter Scale.

On account of the fairly high intensity of earthquakes on Sumba Island, people are advised to remain vigilant, especially when a large earthquake hits.

“People need to continue to be alert, so that the impact of the earthquake can be minimized and ensure that it does not cause casualties,” he stated.

He also appealed to the public to monitor information from the BMKG as a reliable source, so that they can mitigate the impact of disasters properly.

“Do not be influenced by earthquake information from unaccounted sources, especially those circulating on social media,” Hariyatmoko remarked.

Source: Antara News

Head of the East Java Health Service, Erwin Astha Triyono, has informed that the service has not detected any acute hepatitis cases of unknown origin in the province.

“The 114 cases found in 18 districts/cities, based on the East Java Early Alert and Response System (SKDR) data received as of May 4, 2022, were not acute hepatitis, but acute jaundice syndrome or acute jaundice,” he said in a virtual statement on Friday.

SKDR is an application devised to follow up on early findings of a disease, he added.

“SKDR is an application that receives data from all health services. Currently, there are findings related to acute jaundice. So, this is an alert regarding jaundice,” he said.

After receiving a report from SKDR, the East Java Health Service verifies the cases, checks their causes, and determines whether they are infectious or non-infectious.

“Furthermore, (the service determines) whether this is related to acute hepatitis whose etiology is unknown or not, it turns out that until May 2022, this finding does not belong to the acute hepatitis group with unknown cause,” he informed.

One of the signs of acute hepatitis is jaundice, however, patients who contract jaundice may not necessarily have acute hepatitis since jaundice can be caused by typhus and malaria, among others, according to Triyono.

“Therefore, it is necessary to find the cause. I emphasize there have been no reports related to acute hepatitis in East Java,” he said.

Triyono then asked people to be more careful, but remain calm and take preventive measures by adopting a Clean and Healthy Lifestyle (PHBS), including frequently washing hands with soap, drinking clean and boiled water, and ensuring their food is clean and fully cooked.

People must also use their own eating utensils, wear masks, maintain distance, and avoid contact with sick people.

“For the time being, do not swim in public swimming pools, do not play on the ground, avoid touching hand railings, doorknobs, walls, and other things that people often touch,” he added.

Source: Antara News

At least 10 thousand homecomers departed from Gambir Station in Central Jakarta on Friday, or four days after Eid al-Fitr, state railway firm PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI) informed.

As many as 36 trains were operated from Gambir Station on Friday, and eight of them were additional trains.

“The number of passengers departing from KAI’s Jakarta Operational Area 1 is still relatively high,” PT KAI’s Jakarta Operational Area 1 public relations head, Eva Chairunisa, said here.

Homecomers also departed from other stations under the Jakarta Operational Area 1 such as Pasar Senen, Bekasi, Karawang, Cikarang, Cikampek, and Jakarta Kota.

Thus, the total number of homecomers departing from stations in the operational area on Friday reached 25,400.

From April 22 to May 6, 2022, at least 485,200 departure tickets were sold at stations in the Jakarta Operational Area 1.

The most common destinations picked by passengers were Yogyakarta, Solo, Kutoarjo, Purwokerto, Kebumen, Tegal, Semarang, Surabaya, Malang, Cirebon, and Bandung.

Prospective passengers who want to order tickets can check the availability of seats and trains, as well as make ticket transactions, through the KAI Access application, Chairunisa informed.

As many as 818,926 train seats are being offered during the Eid period, or from April 22 to May 13.

For the period, 63 long-distance trips per day are being operated from Jakarta Operational Area 1, with the average capacity pegged at 37,200 seats (16,700 from Gambir Station and 20,500 from Pasar Senen Station).

This year, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the Indonesian government has allowed people to travel to their hometowns to celebrate Eid al-Fitr in view of the improving pandemic situation in the country.

The government has also asked people joining the exodus to complete their primary and booster vaccinations.

Source: Antara News

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.

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.

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.

Source: Antara News

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) visited Tirta Empul Temple, Manukaya village, Gianyar district, Bali province, on Friday, and asked all stakeholders to preserve the cultural heritage.

The temple is located east of the Tampaksiring Presidential Palace. In addition to the temple being a tourist attraction, a clear spring on its premises is used for religious ceremonies.

“I think that the temple is well-maintained and clean. Currently, a lot of tourists have started to visit it (again),” the President said, according to a statement issued by the press, media, and information bureau of the Presidential Secretariat.

The temple is included in the subak (Bali’s traditional irrigation system) landscape of the Pakerisan Watershed (DAS). The landscape has been designated a world cultural heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Hence, Jokowi urged all parties—the local government as well as the community—to collaborate for maintaining the temple.

“Please keep implementing strict health protocols and maintaining the cleanliness of the place since it is the asset of the nation, community, and indigenous people, which provides welfare to the people and the local government of this customary village,” he remarked.

The customary head of the village (locally called bendesa adat), Made Mawiarnata, informed that the number of visitors at Tirta Empul Temple has declined amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hence, he said he is grateful that lately, tourists have begun to flock to the temple.

“The visitors have started to come, especially domestic tourists, thanks to the opportunity (relaxing of travel regulations) which has been provided by the government as it is very supportive. Still, there are only a few overseas tourists,” he informed.

The customary head of the village urged the community to help promote the cultural heritage to wider audiences to attract more tourists to the temple.

Coordinator of the Presidential Special Staff, Ari Dwipayana, accompanied the President on the visit.

Source: Antara News

East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa has appealed to all district heads and mayors in the province to accelerate second and third or booster COVID-19 vaccinations after the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

“The main goal is to prevent a spike in COVID-19 cases, especially in East Java,” she explained at the Grahadi State Building, here on Friday.

Vaccination acceleration is essential to ensure all regions in the province can enforce Level 1 public activity restrictions (PPKM), she said.

The Indonesian government has regulated that regions can implement Level 1 PPKM if their first dose vaccination coverage has reached at least 70 percent.

Vaccine stocks in East Java are sufficient to accelerate vaccinations, Parwansa affirmed.

The vaccination acceleration will be prioritized for districts and cities that are still implementing Level 2 and 3 PPKM, with the target of surpassing 70 percent coverage for second dose vaccinations.

Currently, of the 38 districts and cities in East Java, 12 districts and cities are enforcing Level 1 PPKM, 25 districts and cities are implementing Level 2 PPKM, while one region is still enforcing Level 3 PPKM.

Meanwhile, the first dose vaccination coverage in East Java has reached 92.83 percent, the second dose coverage has touched 78.65 percent, and the third dose coverage has been recorded at 5.96 percent.

The regions that have recorded the highest booster vaccination coverage are Mojokerto city (47.88 percent), Surabaya city (43.83 percent), Madiun city (32.55 percent), and Malang city (28.69 percent).

As part of efforts to boost community immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021, targeting as many as 208,265,720 citizens across the country.

According to the Health Ministry data, as of Friday (May 6, 2022), as many as 199,292,644 Indonesians have received the first dose, 165,616,148 have received the second dose, and 40,971,055 have received the booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Source: Antara News

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, has appealed to the community to be wary of hoaxes linking mysterious acute hepatitis cases with COVID-19 vaccination.

“On social media, hoaxes related to children’s vaccinations (and acute hepatitis) have spread. If not handled, this will be counterproductive,” he said in a press release issued here on Friday.

Effendy further said that he is concerned about the issue because the government is currently focusing on administering COVID-19 vaccines to children to protect them from the coronavirus.

As of Tuesday (May 3, 2022), at least 16,623,197 children aged 6 to 11 years, or around 62.97 percent of the targeted 26,400,300 children, have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in the country.

The government is also aiming to inoculate 26,705,490 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years. At least 81.19 percent of the targeted group has received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Touching upon cases of acute hepatitis, he said he is hopeful that the Ministry of Health will swiftly carry out preventive and curative efforts to handle the disease.

“I think we are more proactive in conducting large-scale sweeps in every area to ensure that acute hepatitis has not spread. Even if it has spread, it can also be detected early and can be treated,” he added.

Earlier, the Ministry of Health had increased vigilance against a mysterious form of acute hepatitis that is affecting children in several countries.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that vigilance had been increased on account of the deaths of three children undergoing treatment for suspected acute hepatitis at the Dr. Ciptomangunkusuma Hospital, Jakarta. They died at different times in the two weeks till April 30, she informed.

The symptoms exhibited by the three patients included nausea, vomiting, severe diarrhea, fever, jaundice, seizures, and decreased consciousness, she said.

Source: Antara News