# 2466
Laboratory test results have not been released thus far on any of the 17 suspected bird flu patients currently hospitalized in a South Sulawesi hospital.
So we still don't know if any of them are actually infected with the H5N1 virus.
I'm a bit skeptical about the reporting of an `urgent' test conducted on the first 7 patients showing H5N1 - mentioned in the article below.
I suspect they are referring to a rapid influenza test, which can indicate whether someone has an influenza A infection (which would include H5N1), but not identify the strain.
A flurry of media reports continue to come out of Indonesia, however, including this English Language report from Friday morning's Jakarta Post.
Friday, November 14, 2008 9:52 AM
17 in hospital with suspected bird flu
Andi Hajramurni and Suherdjoko , The Jakarta Post , Makassar and Semarang | Fri, 11/14/2008 7:05 AM |
A South Sulawesi hospital was overwhelmed as it admitted in two days 17 patients believed to have bird flu, an official said Thursday.
The patients, mostly children, presented with symptoms of the disease, such as a high fever, cough and respiratory problems, spokesman for Wahidin Sudirohusodo General Hospital in Makassar, Andi Kurnia Bintang, said.
Kurnia said the first patient, 5-year-old Salman, was hospitalized Wednesday morning, followed in the evening by his siblings Nurul Awaliah, 3, and Nur Fadillah, four months old, and four neighbors.
He said the patients, all residents of Sudiang subdistrict in Biringkanaya district, Makassar, were brought to the hospital after suffering a high fever for about two days.
“According to Salman’s parents, 27 chickens belonging to their neighbors died on Nov. 7. In the two days after that, their four chickens also died,” he said.
Kurnia said the hospital had conducted urgent tests for the first seven patients, with the results indicating the presence of the H5N1 avian influenza virus.
The hospital is waiting for confirmation of the results from blood tests conducted by the Micro Laboratory of the Hasanuddin University Medical School and the Visual Conversion Reaction, he said.
He said the hospital had the other 10 patients admitted Thursday under observation while waiting for their test results.
“They showed symptoms of bird flu, such as a high fever and respiratory problems, but we are still waiting for the results of the rapid tests, thorax photos and blood tests,” the hospital’s emergency unit officer in charge Wasis Udaya said.
Related Post:
Widget by [ Iptek-4u ]