In Indonesia, doctors urge parents to be ‘alert’ as authorities review child hepatitis cases

Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in Southeast Asia add their cases of severe hepatitis in children to those of at least 12 other countries in global outbreak

An expert in Australia says origin of this strain of hepatitis might be one form of long-Covid in children, not adenovirus

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Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore are awaiting official confirmation of acute hepatitis after a number of young children have become ill or died. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 5:00pm, 20 May 2022Updated: 7:16pm, 20 May 2022

Do not be afraid but be alert.

That was one Indonesian health expert’s advice to parents as the country reassessed the status of its rising number of paediatric acute hepatitis cases with no known cause.

On Wednesday, the Indonesian health ministry said it identified 14 suspected cases of the illness.

Authorities were waiting on test results of 13 of these cases before they were to be classified as probable cases, The Jakarta Globe reported.

Earlier, 27 suspected cases were reported but they were “discarded” after results proved reactive to hepatitis A, B, or other pathogens, the health ministry’s spokesman Mohammad Syahril was quoted as saying.

The nation is among those in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia and Singapore, where cases have begun to appear in recent weeks. Some children with confirmed cases of acute hepatitis needed liver transplants, while others, sadly, have died.

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