Govt warns of increasing SARS cases

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Hospitals designated to treat suspected Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome cases have been told to prepare more isolation rooms as the number of suspected SARS cases rose to 16 on Tuesday, up from 12 on Monday.

Meanwhile, the government sent five senior doctors to Singapore on Tuesday to study how the city-state handles SARS cases.

Singapore has been praised by the World Health Organization (WHO) for doing more than other countries to minimize the spread of SARS.

Director General for Communicable Disease Eradication and Environmental Health Umar Fahmi Achmadi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that SARS appeared to be on the increase in Indonesia despite the declining trend worldwide.

The government has appointed 17 state hospitals across the country to treat suspected SARS patients. The hospitals include Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital and Persahabatan Hospital in Jakarta; Adam Malik Hospital in Medan, North Sumatra; Batam Otorita Hospital in Batam, Riau; Muwardi Hospital in Surakarta, Central Java; Soetomo Hospital in Surabaya, East Java; Sudarso Hospital in Pontianak, West Kalimantan; Tarakan Hospital in Tarakan, East Kalimantan; Wahidin Sudiro Husodo Hospital in Makassar, South Sulawesi; Malalayang Hospital in Manado, North Sulawesi, and Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar, Bali.

According to Umar, the total number of suspected SARS cases rose to 16 on Tuesday, up from 12 on Monday, but only five are still being treated at Sulianti Saroso hospital.

Sardikin Giriputro, head of the SARS team at Sulianti Saroso hospital, agreed with Umar, saying suspected SARS cases would continue to increase.

He also confirmed that five suspected SARS patients were still being treated at the hospital and that an additional ambulance had been given to the hospital by the Ministry of Health. Another ambulance was given to Soekarno-Hatta Airport health clinic.

Arie Bratasena, a senior official at Sulianti Saroso, said that although patients had been allowed to return home, they had been advised to continue wearing masks, stay home for 14 days, measure body temperature every eight hours and report their health condition periodically to relevant hospitals.

Umar said that Sulianti Saroso hospital would double its isolation rooms to 14, while Persahabatan Hospital in Jakarta and Batam Otorita Hospital intended to increase their isolation rooms to anticipate an increase in suspected SARS patients.

Surgical masks have been distributed to all airport officials, and health alert cards are disseminated to passengers in airplanes -- not inside the airport -- according to Sumaryati Aryoso, head of research and development at the Ministry of Health.

She said a special health clinic for returning migrant workers had been established at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to anticipate suspected SARS cases among migrant workers returning from Hong Kong and Singapore.

She also said a government team had been sent to Batam to improve monitoring at seaports there.

Meanwhile, Antara reported that the Manokwari Health Office, Papua, would establish a special emergency unit for SARS.

The news agency also reported that Cirebon Seaport Health Clinic, West Java, had tightened measures to protect the city against a SARS outbreak. The city is visited by ships from territories where the virus has spread such as Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong and China.

Tjilik Riwut Airport in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, is also screening incoming passengers to prevent the entry of SARS in the city.

I-BOX

Accumulative suspected SARS cases: 16

In Sulianti Saroso Hospital: 5

Discharged from hospital: 11