[Kolom Pakar] Prof Tjandra Yoga Aditama: Severe Hepatitis Has Arrived in Singapore

3. The incidence of this disease is rare, it is not clear whether there is a possibility of human-to-human transmission, the case is still sporadic.

4. Because acute liver failure can occur (acute liver failure) and some even require transplants so the E-CDC states that the potential impact is high, and is referred to as ‘public health event of concern’.

5. What E-CDC will still do is:

5.1. promote surveillance in the fields of epidemiology, clinic, virology, toxicology, and others

5.2. need to look for other information to establish the hypothesis of the cause, including a history of previous infection, personal aspects, environment, and others

5.3. there needs to be an in-depth study to get the risk factors for infection, the case becomes severe, the possibility of transmission, the complete clinical picture and the etiology of the cause.

Our Ministry of Health seems to have started to be wary as well.

The three main steps that need to be carried out are case identification, rigorous epidemiological surveillance and very detailed laboratory tests.

The E-CDC steps above may also be better implemented in Indonesia, as far as possible.

Prof. Tjandra Yoga Aditama

Former Director of Infectious Diseases WHO Southeast AsiaFormer Director General of Disease Control and Former Head of Balitbangkes

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