Indonesia: No New Cases of Acute Kidney Failure

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesian Ministry of Health said, there were no new cases of Acute Kidney Failure since October 22, 2022.

Spokesman for the Ministry of Health, Mohammad Syahril, said that this was due to the ban on taking syrup medicine since October 18, 2022 for a while.

“The ban on consuming as well as selling and prescribing in health care facilities, hospitals, health centers, and pharmacies has succeeded in preventing the addition of new cases at the RSCM as a national kidney referral hospital. There have been no new patients since last October 22,” said Syahril in an online press conference on Tuesday.

Although there are no new cases added, the government remains vigilant and takes further preventive measures. As of Monday, there were 255 cases of acute kidney failure originating from 26 provinces. About 80 percent of cases occurred in Jakarta, West Java, Aceh, East Java, West Sumatra, Bali, Banten, and North Sumatra.

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The percentage of deaths is 56 percent or as many as 143 cases. The addition of 6 cases, including 2 deaths, which were reported is not a new case.

Syahril said, this phenomenon made his party more convinced that the cause of this atypical progressive acute kidney failure was ethylene glycol poisoning contained in children’s syrups.

In addition to prevention efforts, the Ministry of Health has also brought in the antidote for Fomepizole as a cure for Acute Kidney Failure.

“The government has purchased 26 vials of Fomepizole antidote from Singapore and 16 vials from Australia. Furthermore, hundreds of vials of the drug will also be purchased from Japan and the United States. This medicine will soon be distributed to government referral hospitals and this medicine is free.” explained Syahril.

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From the results of the administration of Fomepizole at the Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo National Central Public Hospital, 10 out of 11 patients continued to experience clinical improvement. There were no deaths and no further deterioration of the condition. Pediatric patients are able to pass urine. From the results of laboratory tests, the ethylene glycol levels of the 10 children had no harmful substances detected.

As a follow-up to the results of testing and announcements by BPOM, the Ministry of Health issued a circular letter Number HK.02.02/III/3515/2022 concerning Instructions for Comsunption of Liquid/Syrup Drugs in Children dated October 24, 2022. In the letter, the Ministry of Health listed 156 drugs that can be consumed by the community. In addition to these 156 drugs, other brands of drugs are prohibited from being consumed for a while.

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“This moment is our means to educate the public, especially parents who have young children, not to buy drugs without a prescription or without consulting health workers,” explained Syahril. (T/ri/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)