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Hepatitis should not stop in-class learning, but caution needed: Experts
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Students of SD 010 Batam Kota state elementary school in Batam, Riau Islands, attend class in person. (Antara/Teguh Prihatna)
E
ducators and health experts say that in-classroom learning should continue despite recent discoveries of a poorly understood form of child hepatitis, but they have urged parents and the government to keep close watch over health and hygiene protocols.
As of last week, the Health Ministry had investigated 27 cases thought to be connected to the mysterious illness, but only one had been classified as a probable case based on criteria set out by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Acute hepatitis of unknown origin, as the condition is known, has been ruled out in thirteen cases, and the remaining 13 are pending classification.
As of May 10, 436 cases had been reported in 27 countries – mostly in the United Kingdom and the United States – and 11 fatalities had been recorded.
Read also: Govt probes another hepatitis-linked child death as more cases emerge
Despite this, epidemiologist Dicky Budiman of Austrialia’s Griffith University said on Thursday that in-person learning would be relatively safe for students in elementary school or older, particularly because a large number of illness thought to be related to the mysterious form of hepatitis were in children younger than 5.
However, Dicky urged parents to take precautions to ensure their children were maintaining personal health and hygiene and adhering to health protocols in the classroom. This, Dicky said, included regularly washing their hands, routine physical exercise and a proper diet.
