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Expert team probes fatal kidney failures among children
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A baby sleeps on his mother’s legs as children play at a playground in Jakarta on March 29, 2022. (AFP/Adek Berry)
T
he Health Ministry has formed a team of medical experts to investigate cases of acute kidney failure of unknown origin in children as cases continue to pop up around the country.
As of Monday, the ministry had recorded at least 189 cases of fatal kidney failure in 20 provinces with 74 fatalities since January.
Ministry spokeswoman Siti Nadia Tarmidzi said that the team would study the origins of the mysterious disease.
"The team comprises epidemiologists, clinical pathologists, officials from the Health Ministry, doctors from the Indonesian Pediatrician Association [IDAI], officials from the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency [BPOM] and the World Health Organization’s [WHO] representatives in Indonesia," Siti told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
The ministry has found cases of unusual acute kidney failure in the country since January, with cases beginning to show a significant uptick in August. Most of the patients were under the age of five, with no congenital kidney anomalies, chronic kidney diseases, nor major blood or fluid loss prior to their kidney failure.
According to IDAI head Piprim Basarah Yanuarso, almost all patients developed fever, acute respiratory infection or gastrointestinal infections between one and two weeks before their kidney failure.
"Their kidney function worsened quickly and soon they developed either oliguria – abnormally small amounts of urine production – or anuria – failure to produce urine. Both are predictive biomarkers of acute kidney injury," Piprim said on Friday.
