News Reports for June 3, 2012

Boy confirmed with bird flu in Hong Kong

HONG KONG, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong health authority said on Saturday that a two-year-old boy has been confirmed with H5N1 Influenza A and urged the public not to panic.

The Center for Health Protection said the boy's condition has changed from stable to serious after testing positive for the deadly avian influenza, while his parents' tests for influenza were negative.

(Snip) The boy was put to intensive care treatment while his parents were in quarantine in the same hospital.

A native of China's southern city of Guangzhou, the boy went to Hong Kong with his family on May 26 to seek medical treatment after running a fever for weeks.

(Snip) the city government raised its bird flu alert level to "serious" and tightened control on live chickens imports, and strengthened supervision of local farms and markets.

The authority has intensified disease monitoring and infection control in public hospitals. Hospital staff will keep close watch over visiting patients and enforce triage assessment and appropriate segregation at waiting areas in line with clinical guidelines.

(Snip) all 30 local chicken farms will be inspected within two days to ensure that their chickens are healthy and biosecurity and health measures are followed strictly.

The Center for Food Safety has contacted with its mainland counterparts in search of the infection source. Once the source is located, an area within 13 km radius will be declared an import control zone. Imports of live poultry and poultry products will be suspended for 21 days in the zone. Continued: http://news.xinhuanet.com/engl...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Sun Jun 03, 2012 at 06:44:52 AM UTC

India: Another swine flu suspect admitted (Madhya Pradesh)

Indore: Within a week of the death of a swine flu patient, another suspected H1N1 patient has been admitted at Sri Aurobindo Institute of Social Sciences. Out of the 3 patients who died of swine flu in the state, one is from Indore. Out of the 5 patients who tested positive, 3 are from the city.

Swab of a patient Teena (23) has been sent for examination to laboratory at Jabalpur. "We have not yet received the medical report but her condition has improved a bit,"
(Snip)
"The situation has turned endemic and virus is in the environment," added Pandit. As per official records, 50 samples of suspected swine flu patients have been sent for examination to the laboratories this year in the entire state. Out of the total swabs, medical reports of 47 have been received till June 1. Three swine flu patients died while 4 patients tested positive so far.

(Snip) a woman suffering from Swine flu died on May 28. She was admitted at Shri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences on May 5. The victim, a resident of Rajgarh district complained of breathing problem after delivering twins on May 7. (Snip) she tested positive. http://daily.bhaskar.com/artic...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Sun Jun 03, 2012 at 07:13:27 AM UTC

India: Nagpur Municipal Corporation workshop on swine flu updates for health workers (Maharashtra)

NAGPUR: Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) had organized a workshop for city health workers to equip them to handle any cases of swine flu that may surface during monsoon. This refresher course, aimed at informing the participants about the designated centers in the city deal with the disease, recommended drugs and their dosages and the guidelines to handle a H1N1 positive patient.

Dr Arun Humne, professor and head of the preventive and social medicine department of Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) conducted the presentations. The workshop was attended by medical officers from all private and government hospitals chosen by NMC to help tackle swine flu cases.

"It was an effort to cerate more awareness among the health workers about the disease and its management. Health workers from NMC's hospitals as well as five private hospitals, the designated swine flu centres, were updated with the latest guidelines and methodologies to be followed while dealing with a swine flu patient," said Dr Milind Ganvir, deputy director (health), NMC.

Dr Shyam Shende, NMC health department official in-charge of swine flu, said the objective of the workshop was to prepare the medical fraternity to handle a possible swine flu outbreak. "It is always better to take all the precautions ahead of monsoon, a season known for high prevalence of infectious diseases," he said. Continued: http://timesofindia.indiatimes...  

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Sun Jun 03, 2012 at 07:26:14 AM UTC

China: Guangdong on alert after Hong Kong bird flu case

2012-06-02 19:24:13

GUANGZHOU, June 2 (Xinhua) -- South China's Guangdong province is on high alert after a Hong Kong hospital confirmed that it has admitted a two-year-old boy infected with the H5 strain of avian influenza.

The boy was admitted to a Hong Kong hospital on May 28 with convulsions after arriving from Guangdong's capital city of Guangzhou. He tested positive for the H5 strain.

The boy was confirmed to have been in contact with a live duck between May 17 and 19 at a farmer's market in Guangzhou. However, tests conducted at the market and surrounding markets, as well as a hospital in Zhuangzhou that had admitted the boy, found no signs of a bird flu outbreak, said He Jianfeng, director of the Epidemic Studies Institute of the Guangdong Disease Control Center.

He said the province has launched an avian influenza response plan and is keeping track of the whereabouts of those who were in close contact with the child, as well as monitoring their health.

None of the people in contact with the child had exhibited abnormalities as of 5:30 p.m. Saturday, He said.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/engl...

United we stand: Divided we fall
www.flunewsnetwork.com

---

by: cottontop @ Sun Jun 03, 2012 at 13:44:53 PM UTC

China: Boy with bird flu treated in HK as contacts traced.

HONG Kong's health authority said yesterday that the two-year-old boy confirmed with bird flu on Saturday is receiving isolated treatment at Princess Margaret Hospital and his condition remains serious. (Snip) the boy had been to Anhui Province with his parents from May 20-22, where he had no direct poultry contact. He had visited a wet market with live poultry near his residence in Guangzhou in mid-May.

The department said it is continuing to trace the boy's contacts. Apart from his parents, the boy came into contact with patients in the private medical clinic in Mong Kok, ambulance personnel and people at Caritas Medical Center (CMC), totaling around 80 people.

Among them, two health-care workers from CMC developed respiratory symptoms, but their nasal samples tested negative for bird flu. Lab tests of the boy's parents, two health-care workers at the private clinic and another patient who attended the same clinic also tested negative. Continued: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/a...

(Note: The 2 healthcare workers developing respiratory symptoms is of concern, especially if only a rapid test was done on them. Rapid test are not that reliable, IMO.)

This from the WHO website: "The incubation period for H5N1 avian influenza may be longer than that for normal seasonal influenza, which is around two to three days. Current data for H5N1 infection indicate an incubation period ranging from two to eight days and possibly as long as 17 days. WHO currently recommends that an incubation period of seven days be used for field investigations and the monitoring of patient contacts." http://www.who.int/mediacentre...  

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Sun Jun 03, 2012 at 18:10:01 PM UTC

China: Bird flu boy spends 5 days in ward after wrong call (Hong Kong)

A two-year-old boy who is seriously ill with bird flu at Princess Margaret Hospital missed out on treatment for the disease for several days after doctors at another hospital failed to diagnose H5N1, it emerged last night. The toddler is in intensive care with obstructive hydrocephalus, or water on the brain, a spokesman for the Centre for Health Protection said.

His Hong Kong father and mainland mother do not have symptoms but have been quarantined at the hospital.

The boy was transferred to Princess Margaret on Friday from Caritas Medical Centre where he had been treated in a general pediatrics ward for five days. A spokeswoman for the Hospital Authority told The Standard that Caritas doctors suspected upper respiratory tract infection. "We can't put all patients with flu in isolation and it depends on the case," she said.

When asked when the antiviral drug Tamiflu was given to the boy, she said: "What I can tell you is the boy has been given Tamiflu ... at Princess Margaret."

The boy is believed to have contracted bird flu when he and his mother bought a live duck at a wet market in mid-May in Guangzhou and had it dressed on the spot. The Centre for Food Safety said there is no registered poultry farm within 30 kilometers of the patient's usual residence in Guangzhou.

On May 23, the boy developed fever and a runny nose and was taken to two doctors in Guangzhou within three days. He came to Hong Kong on May 26 and visited a private clinic in Mong Kok. He started convulsing and was taken to the accident and emergency department of Caritas Medical Centre a week ago.

About 80 contacts of the boy at the private clinic, ambulance, and Caritas including children are being traced. Two health-care workers from Caritas developed symptoms but were not diagnosed with H5N1.

University of Hong Kong virology professor Guan Yi said the virus will be tested to see whether it has mutated. Continued: http://www.thestandard.com.hk/...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Sun Jun 03, 2012 at 19:54:35 PM UTC

China: Flu kills 36 in 2 weeks, more than last winter (Hong Kong)

May 30, 2012 - Influenza has killed 36 people in the last two weeks, more than the total number of deaths in last year's winter flu season, Centre for Health Protection figures show.

And deaths are expected to continue as a mutated form of the virus extends the flu season into next month. "The virus has mutated and many people don't have the immunity," Dr Lo Wing- lok, an infectious disease specialist, said. "This year's winter peak has merged with the summer peak."

The mutation is also rendering vaccination less effective, as most vaccines were based on a previous strain. Health specialists say the new strain has proved particularly dangerous for elderly people.

In the two weeks to Monday, 55 patients were admitted to intensive care wards with flu, while 36 people died. The number of flu cases recorded last week was the highest yet this year at 1,113. Just 880 cases were recorded in the busiest week of last year and there were just 329 cases in the week from April 29 to May 3.

In the past four weeks, more than 95 per cent of influenza cases were of type A H3N2, replacing a milder strain recorded earlier in the year. Continued: http://www.pressdisplay.com/pr...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Sun Jun 03, 2012 at 20:11:40 PM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for June 4, 2012

Thank you!

---

by: AlohaOR @ Mon Jun 04, 2012 at 04:20:04 AM UTC