Two city hospitals ready to handle potential bird flu cases

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Persahabatan Hospital and Sulianti Saroso Hospital have prepared medical teams and special rooms to treat possible bird flu cases.

The government has officially appointed the institutions as referral hospitals in response to the recent deaths of three Tangerang residents from the disease.

Persahabatan Hospital in East Jakarta, which is known for its respiratory medical services, has prepared isolation rooms with four beds.

"Rooms No. 1 and 10 on the first floor of Soka House, located in the east part of the hospital complex, are provided for in- patients receiving treatment from the special bird flu medical team," said Any Reputrawati, the customer service head at Persahabatan Hospital.

Any said a specialist in lung disease, Mukhtar Ikhsan, would head the medical team.

Sulianti Saroso Hospital in North Jakarta, which is recognized as a treatment center for infectious diseases, has set aside 20 patient rooms.

"The in-patient isolations rooms are ready and for really severe cases we also have set up a network with other hospitals, such as Koja and Persahabatan, in case the four intensive care unit rooms we have are full," the deputy director of medical services, Arie Bratasena, told The Jakarta Post.

He said any patient suspected of having bird flu would be processed through the emergency room, where the hospital has assigned lung specialist Sardikin Giriputro to lead the medical team.

"If a patient with a suspected case of bird flu comes in coughing without any sign of being short-winded, then they will be sent directly to an isolation room. However, if the patient is short-winded, then the patient will be sent to the intensive care unit," Arie said.

Any of Persahabatan said a patient suspected of having been infected with bird flu would be sent directly to an isolation room to await the results of blood tests.

She said that as soon as a patient was received in the emergency room, the patient's blood samples would be sent to an American affiliated laboratory, the Naval Medical Research Unit in East Jakarta, for testing.

The government confirmed on Wednesday the first fatalities of bird flu in the country after tests on a man and his two children who died this month showed they had the virus.

According to the World Health Organization, there have not been any confirmed cases of person-to-person transfer of bird flu. So far, all those who have been infected with the virus came into contact with infected poultry or swine. (004)