# 1832
Yesterday we learned of a 15 year-old-boy who died in a Bandung hospital, now suspected of having bird flu.
New information today is that the boy's younger brother died last week in the same hospital, from what was believed to have been Dengue Fever.
Dengue fever is, of course, quite common in Indonesia. Diagnosis is generally based on clinical symptoms, not on blood tests. While most patients recover, a small percentage of Dengue patients develop Dengue hemorrhagic fever, a complication that is life threatening.
The symptoms of Dengue vary, but can include high fever, joint pain, headache, pain behind the eyes, and rash. These symptoms are also common to a variety of viral illnesses, including bird flu.
To have two members of the same family die from Dengue would be unusual, but not unheard of. It does raise suspicions, however. Tests are being run, and so it will be a few days before we know if this boy had the H5N1 virus or not.
Suspected bird flu patient dies
, , | Fri, 03/28/2008 11:27 AM | The Archipelago
BANDUNG: A 15-year-old boy from Subang, West Java, suspected of suffering from bird flu died Wednesday evening just one hour after being admitted to Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung to receive intensive medical treatment.
Hadi Jusuf, head of the hospital's bird flu mitigation team, said the condition of the patient, identified only as AY, was very poor upon arrival at the hospital at 4:30 p.m.
"He had breathing difficulties and was unconscious. Moreover he had acute lung wounds," Hadi explained Thursday.
AY had been treated at Cieereng Hospital four days earlier, his high body temperature leading doctors to believe he suffered from dengue fever.
A week earlier AY's younger brother died at the same hospital due, according to the hospital doctors, to dengue fever, Hadi said.
AY's blood samples had been sent to a laboratory at the Ministry of Health in Jakarta to ascertain whether AY was infected by the H5N1 virus or not, Hadi said. -- JP
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