Viral Hepatitis in Indonesia: Past, Present, and Future

Since Indonesia is a huge archipelago country, the prevalence of hepatitis virus infection highly varies among islands. In average the prevalence of clinical hepatitis in Indonesia was 0.6% in the year 2007. Of 82 clinical acute hepatitis patients treated in hospitals in several cities, acute hepatitis A accounted for 28.0%, acute hepatitis B 13.4%, and acute hepatitis C 1.2%; 35.4% patients were infected by unknown etiology. In 1980s, the prevalence of anti-HAV in the age group 10- to 14-years was almost 100% in smaller towns and 45 to 60% in big cities. About 30 years later, anti-HAV prevalence decreased to around 13% in the same smaller town. Outbreaks of hepatitis A were reported between 2006 and 2009 in several cities in Java island. The prevalence of HBsAg in the islands other than Java island (8.5%) was significantly higher than in Java island (4.9%). In 1,409 viremic subjects, 4 genotypes of HBV were found, i.e., genotype B (60%), followed by genotype C (33%), genotype D (7%), and genotype A (0.3%). In contrast, the prevalence of hepatitis C was much higher in Java island compared to other islands. In blood donors in Java island, the prevalence of anti-HCV and HCV RNA were 1.5 and 1.1% respectively, while in other islands, the prevalence were only 0.7 and 0.2% respectively. Hepatitis D was very rare in Indonesia, and so was hepatitis E. Outbreaks of hepatitis E were reported between 1989 and 1993 in West Kalimantan. Afterward, the incidence of hepatitis E was reported sporadically.

Mulyanto. Viral Hepatitis in Indonesia: Past, Present, and Future. Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2016;6(1):65-69.