No confirmed SARS cases in Indonesia, team declares

No confirmed SARS cases in Indonesia, team declares

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite the rapid increase in the number of suspected cases of
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) here, there have been no
confirmed cases of the disease, a government official said.

The Ministry of Health conducted clinical tests and X-ray
verifications on suspected SARS patients on Wednesday, the
results of which were announced on Thursday.

Syafei Ahmad, the spokesman for the verification team, said on
Thursday that the number of suspected SARS patients had risen to
24, but none had been positively identified as having the
disease.

Thirteen of the suspected SARS patients have been discharged
from the hospital. However, they are still required to report to
their local health officials periodically.

One of the suspected SARS patients who was discharged has
reportedly died, but it is unclear if the death was the result of
SARS.

Eight suspected SARS patients are being treated at the
Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital in North Jakarta,
one at Adam Malik Hospital in Medan, North Sumatra, one at
Muwardi Hospital in Surakarta, Central Java, and one at Banyumas
Hospital in Central Java.

Syafei said his team had adopted criteria established by the
World Health Organization (WHO) for classifying SARS cases as
suspected, probable or confirmed.

A suspected SARS case refers to a person who, since Feb. 1,
2003, has had a history of fever above 38 degrees Celsius, shows
one or more respiratory symptoms, including a cough, shortness of
breath and difficulty breathing. They might also have had close
contact with a person diagnosed with SARS and might have traveled
within 10 days of the onset of symptoms to a SARS-affected area.

A probable SARS case refers to a suspected case with chest
X-ray findings of pneumonia or respiratory distress syndrome, or
a suspected case with unexplained respiratory illness resulting
in death, with an autopsy examination demonstrating the pathology
of respiratory distress syndrome without an identifiable cause.

Confirmed SARS cases refer to people who have been clinically
proven to have contracted the disease.

Indonesia, according to Syafei, must report to WHO if it finds
a probable SARS case.

The verification team also called on people not to
discriminate against those people who have been discharged from
the hospital after being observed for possible SARS.

"Those who leave the hospital have basically been cleared of
the SARS disease. So people should accept former suspected SARS
patients," Syafei said.

A number of people who had been isolated in the hospital for
observation for possible SARS have reportedly faced
discrimination upon their release.

One such woman was refused entry to a ship in Batam, Riau, as
she attempted to return to her home in Cirebon, West Java,
earlier this week.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health, Mariani
Reksoprodjo, said the government would issue guidelines about
those who were required to wear N-95 masks and those who were
advised to wear surgical masks below the N-95 standard.

"We must tell people whether they need to wear a mask or not.

"Those who are required to wear an N-95 mask are suspected
SARS patients and the health officials who deal with these
patients," she told The Jakarta Post.

Those outside the isolation rooms can use surgical masks that
are below the N-95 standard, she said.

The government is awaiting the delivery of at least one
million surgical masks from China.