Looking, feeling healthy no guarantee

Looking, feeling healthy no guarantee

Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In a country where moralists and the judgmental are quick to condemn the sick, such as people with HIV/AIDs, it is not surprising that many people are reluctant to take blood tests.

This is particularly the case when a suspected ailment is seen as being closely related to moral values, such as those diseases that can be passed through sexual intercourse and intravenous drug use.

A booklet available to patients of the hepatology unit at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital reads as follows: "You look healthy, you feel healthy ... but you may be one of seven million Indonesians who are infected with the Hepatitis C Virus."

Health experts say that Hepatitis C is a silent killer as it quietly attacks the human body, especially the liver. "You will not feel the symptoms at all," the brochure explains.

Professor Ali Sulaiman, a hepatologist, said there was as yet no vaccine to prevent the spread of the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). Those infected would notice no change in their state of health until years after the virus entered their liver through the blood.

"The virus is very smart and adaptable. It is really like a chameleon. Studies on the virus are being conducted in laboratories throughout the world," Ali said.

Preventative efforts can, of course, still be carried out. In Ali's words, "What we can do is to provide education through the media to the public about this disease. How this virus is transmitted and through what medium. We have to do this all the time."

Regular blood tests are not recommended, but those who are particularly at risk of contracting the disease should take such a test.

"People who have sexual contact with people infected with HCV, children of mothers with HCV, and drug users who often share syringes should all have blood tests done."

Today, the prevalence of Hepatitis C is between 3 percent and 4 percent. "So, for every 100 people, there are three or four people infected with HCV."

"In our clinic, we often get patients who have advanced liver disease. They then find out that it was the result of something that happened 10 or 20 years ago, when they received a blood transfusion, for example," said Ali, who is a specialist at the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Central Jakarta.

"Most of them come with chronic hepatitis or even liver cancer."

Against this background, Aydi Sukoco considers himself "very lucky" as he received early warning.

The otherwise healthy father of two, who is employed by a private sector firm, said he was shocked when he received a letter from the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) urging him to take a blood test for HCV.

Shocking because colleagues told him Hepatitis C was a "morality" disease in the same way as HIV/AIDs.

"I was clean and healthy. I never took drugs and had a healthy sex life," he said.

He continued, "It all started in 2002 when my colleagues invited me to participate in a blood donation drive at the office. I was healthy and had no serious diseases that I knew of, so why not? A month later, I got a letter telling me to take a blood test as it was suspected that my blood was infected with HCV."

"A visit to the hepatologist confirmed that I had the virus."

Aydi said his health had always been excellent, and he had only been hospitalized once when he was involved in an accident back in 1987 when he was a teenager.

"It was a traffic accident. I was riding with a friend on a motorbike in Cilacap. I received a blood transfusion from a local hospital there," the Pekalongan native told The Jakarta Post. His hepatologist explained to him that the blood transfusion might have been infected. In all, it took him a total of 48 weeks to get rid of the virus.

"Once a week, I was injected with Peg-Interveron. I guess it was the latest breakthrough as it took less time to get rid of the virus than the normal treatment. However, it also had side- effects like loss of appetite, hair loss and fatigue. Some people say it's similar to chemotherapy treatment for cancer," he added.

Aydi is willing to share his experiences with HCV in order to make people more aware of the dangers posed by the disease -- looking healthy and feeling healthy is no guarantee that one is free of the virus.

Infected blood transfusions are now becoming a less important factor in the spread of HCV, however, as blood donations and transfusions are nowadays taken care by the PMI. This "monopoly" on providing blood supplies should help curtail the spread of the virus.

PMI's special concerns

PMI spokesperson Ria Tahir said that under Government Regulation No. 18/1980, the PMI has the authority to run the blood transfusion service in a bid to prevent the spread of certain viruses.

"We pay special attention to Hepatitis B, C, Syphilis and HIV/AIDs."

Potential blood donors are interviewed about their health, with those suffering from health problems hopefully being persuaded not to give blood.

After the interview, the blood donation is taken and the blood tested using the Eliza Method for Hepatitis B, C, Syphilis and HIV/AIDs.

"At this stage, we send letters out to individuals who are suspected of being infected. Except in the case of HIV/AIDs, because of its sensitivity, we directly report our suspicions to the Ministry of Health," she said.

"Actually, we examine between 600 and 800 blood bags per day -- not an easy task. So this monopoly (of running the blood transfusion service) is a big undertaking for us," she explained.

In the past, when private hospitals could take blood donations themselves, patients could also ask the PMI to test their blood.

"But nowadays time, what we do (sendingo out letters) is a great help. In a private sector laboratory, it would cost hundreds of thousands of rupiah just for a virus test," she said.

The latest data from the World Health Organization says that in Indonesia alone in 2000 there were at least 10 million people infected with HCV.

While the PMI is doing great work in helping prevent the spread of this virus, there are also other ways that can be employed to combat HCV, such as campaigning for safe sex, the use of clean syringes (for drug users), and the employment of sterile equipment for tatooing and piercing. While it might sound preachy, if it saves lives, why not?