By: Dian Ahadi )*
Cases of acute hepatitis that currently affect children are believed to be unrelated to Covid-19. However, the public is advised to always be vigilant by immediately checking the disease to the hospital if there are indications of the symptoms of the disease.
Cases of acute hepatitis that mostly attack children have hit various countries, including Indonesia. The case has now been widely reported in the mass media and much discussed by the public. Not even a few of the people then have the perception that it seems that Acute Hepatitis is still related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Allegations after allegations continue to occur because so far it is still not clear what the cause of the acute hepatitis disease that suddenly attacks a number of children in several countries is. A number of doctors and health academics began to talk a lot, including the National Central General Hospital Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo (RSCM).
The RSCM finally decided to share their voice and explain about Acute Hepatitis to the public. This was because previously there were 3 pediatric patients suspected of having been exposed to the first Acute Hepatitis in Indonesia who later died when they were taken to the hospital. The President Director of RSCM Dr Lies Dina Liastuti stated firmly that there were 14 total cases of suspected Acute Hepatitis but the patients even some of them had not previously been exposed to Covid-19.
Not only answering the many wild perceptions from the public that link Acute Hepatitis with Covid-19, but some among the public still think that one of the causes of Acute Hepatitis is due to the Covid-19 vaccination. Suddenly this assumption was also firmly dismissed by Dr. Lies because in fact out of all his patients, some of them had never even been vaccinated against Covid-19.
Although stating that there is no relationship between Acute Hepatitis and exposure to Covid-19 or Covid-19 vaccination, Dr Lies also stated that further research on this Acute Hepatitis is still needed because the facts on the ground state that both patients who have been or have not been exposed, Whether it’s patients who have or haven’t received the Covid-19 vaccine, in fact they are still infected with Acute Hepatitis.
In line with the objection made by Dr. Lies, Epidemiologist from Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Dr. Riris Andomo Ahmad stated that this acute hepatitis had absolutely nothing to do with the Covid-19 vaccination. Furthermore, he added that it is not surprising that the public is directly concerned with the link between the administration of the Covid-19 vaccination and Acute Hepatitis because Adenovirus is found in patients with it.
It should be noted that Adenovirus is actually a vector that causes humans to have immunity from the Covid-19 virus attack and is used for certain vaccine brands. In addition, regarding the Adenovirus itself, it is actually still a hypothesis because it is only found in a few cases of people with acute hepatitis, so it cannot be beaten evenly.
Currently, acute hepatitis itself has spread widely in various regions, even making the World Health Organization (WHO) set the status of acute hepatitis as an extraordinary event (KLB). However, several parties have also emphasized that there is absolutely no link between Acute Hepatitis and previous Covid-19 sufferers or caused by the Covid-19 vaccination. The public is also asked to remain calm and be aware of the symptoms of the disease in order to prevent fatalities.
)* The author is a contributor to the Nusa Bangsa Institute