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More jaundice cases reported after mysterious hepatitis deaths
The Health Ministry has received more reports of jaundice after three children in Jakarta died of unexplained acute hepatitis, which might be linked to a mysterious outbreak that has emerged among children in at least 20 countries.
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Three children in Indonesia have died from what is believed to be unexplained acute hepatitis, according to the Health Ministry on May 1. (Shutterstock/*)
T
he Health Ministry has received more reports of jaundice after three children in Jakarta died of unexplained acute hepatitis, which might be linked to a mysterious outbreak that has emerged among children in at least 20 countries.
It stopped short of providing details, saying only that an investigation had been launched into whether the cases were part of the acute hepatitis of unknown origin that has affected children abroad.
The ministry is also alerting parents to the emerging uncommon hepatitis and encouraging them to see a doctor if their children display early symptoms of acute hepatitis, like abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, and not to wait until jaundice appears.
Jaundice, or yellowing of the skin and eyes, is known as the hallmark sign of hepatitis and has been found in many cases of mysterious hepatitis in children that have emerged in other countries, as well as in suspected cases of unknown acute hepatitis that have killed three children in Jakarta.
"There has been an increase in [reported jaundice cases], but those are not confirmed cases [of unexplained acute hepatitis] yet, pending testing to make sure whether those were hepatitis A, B, C, D and E or not,” Health Ministry spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi told a press briefing on Thursday.
The statement came on the same day the East Java Health Agency revealed it had found 114 jaundice cases in 18 cities and regencies across the province, as of Wednesday.
The cases in East Java, however, were not exclusively children, the agency said on Instagram.
