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.