Indonesia recorded 3 child deaths due to acute hepatitis

The children had previously been hospitalized in Jakarta and presented with symptoms of nausea, vomiting, severe diarrhea, fever, jaundice, convulsions and loss of consciousness. The country’s health authorities recommend that parents take their children to the hospital immediately when they show these symptoms.

The Indonesian Ministry of Health has set up an expert panel to try to determine the cause of the disease based on testing, while stepping up epidemiological surveillance across the country. The cause of the disease has not been determined and the subjects affected are mainly children under 10 years old.

Last weekend, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released information that a virus called adenovirus 41 may be the cause of hepatitis in children.

Symptoms of acute hepatitis to note

Dr Meera Chand, Clinical and Emerging Infections Director at UKHSA, advised parents to be on the lookout for signs of hepatitis (including jaundice).

“Children with symptoms of gastrointestinal infection including vomiting and diarrhea should stay home and not return to school or daycare until 48 hours after the symptoms have ceased,” she said.

Other hepatitis symptoms to watch out for:

– Yellowing of the skin or eyes

– Dark urine

– Pale colored stools

– Itchy skin

– Muscle and joint pain

– Fever; nausea or vomiting

– Feeling unusually tired all the time

– Anorexia

– Stomachache

Common hygiene practices, such as good hand washing and thorough respiratory hygiene, can help reduce the spread of many common infections, including adenovirus, Dr. Chand stressed.

The health agency also reminds people to avoid touching their face and mouth and to keep their distance when possible because adenovirus is often transmitted from person to person and when touching contaminated surfaces, as well as by road. Respiratory.

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