| Human to human transmission of the H5N1
Avian Flu (Bird Flu) virus is suspected in an Indonesian nurse currently
hospitalized who is showing symptoms of the virus. She had been in close
contact with two children, brother and sister, who have died. The
sister, nine, was confirmed of having died from the virus by local lab
tests. The brother was buried before any blood tests could be taken, but
showed similar symptoms. It was reported on Friday that an analysis
has shown that the virus has not mutated, and the WHO has said that
there was no evidence so far of human to human transmission.
Other members of the same family are currently
ill, but all members have received the
Tamiflu
antiviral drug.
"I think it is a cluster. The local test from the victim in Pamulang
is bird flu positive. The symptoms of the virus are very similar to
previous clusters we've had. The parents are also suffering from flu,
and we are giving them a full dose of Tamiflu now," said Indonesia's
Health Minister, Siti Fadilah Supari.
"The characteristics of germ (the boy had) is very similar (to his
sister's), and now their mother and father are suffering from flu. They
are all in the Pamulang district," added Supari.
The nurse, whose initials are "C.I.," 25, has been put in isoation at
Bandung's Hasan Sadikin Hospital, but officials say that her condition
is stable and that her case may be the result of human to human
transmission due to the fact that she has not had any contact with
poultry.
"We could not confirm whether she is positive of having been infected
by avian influenza virus or not, although she had earlier have contacts
with siblings, 18-year old Ad and 10-year old Ai, who died of bird flu
virus recently," said Hadi Yusuf, chief of the Bird Flu team at Sadikin
Hospital.
"When she arrived at this hospital last night, her body temperature
was very high, namely 39.6 Celsius degrees but now it has decreased to
37 Celsius degrees. After considering her contact with dead bird flu
victims, we declared her a suspected bird flu case. But she is still
fully conscious, her breathing problems are not too serious and she's
not experiencing chest pain," added Yusuf.
The names of the ch
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