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8-year-old girl suffered from encephalitis due to H5N1 avian influenza virus
Thanh Chân
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19:41, Fri Apr 18, 2025 (GMT+7)
HCMC - H hospitalized with sleepiness, confusion and mild confusion, an 8-year-old girl was diagnosed with encephalitis due to avian influenza H5N1. This is a rare case.
On the evening of April 18, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health said that the unit had just issued a quick report to the Ministry of Health on the case of female patient L.B.A (8 years old, Tay Ninh) with a diagnosis of encephalitis due to avian influenza H5N1.
Previously, on April 11, the child had a fever, headache, and vomiting many times. The child was admitted to a local hospital for 2 days of treatment but his condition did not improve. On April 13, the child was transferred to Children's Hospital 1 with a state of sleepiness, confusion, and a slight shyness at the time of admission. The child was diagnosed with encephalitis.
Children's Hospital 1 has taken samples of the brain and respiratory epidemic and sent them to the Testing Department of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases. On April 17, the PCR test result of the cerebrovascular disease was positive for influenza A/H5, the PCR test of respiratory diseases negative for influenza.
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Translation Google
Saturday, April 19, 2025
Disease prevention
Updated: 17:42, April 18, 2025 Views: 1024
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has just reported to the Ministry of Health the case of a baby girl born in 2017 in Tay Ninh, diagnosed with encephalitis due to H5N1 avian influenza and is being treated at Children's Hospital 1.
Specifically, patient LBA, female, born in 2017, residing in Ben Cau, Tay Ninh, was transferred from Tay Ninh Provincial Hospital to Children's Hospital 1 on April 13, 2025 with a diagnosis of Meningoencephalitis.
On April 11, 2025, the patient developed fever, headache, and vomited many times. He was admitted to the provincial hospital for treatment for 2 days but his condition did not improve. On April 13, 2025, the patient was transferred to Children's Hospital 1 with drowsiness, confusion, and slight neck stiffness upon admission and was diagnosed with encephalitis.
Children's Hospital 1 collected cerebrospinal fluid and respiratory samples and sent them to the Laboratory Department of the Tropical Diseases Hospital. On April 17, 2025, the PCR test result of the cerebrospinal fluid was positive for influenza A/H5; the PCR test of the respiratory sample was negative for influenza. Children's Hospital 1 continued to send samples to the Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City to confirm the diagnosis. On April 18, 2025, the Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City confirmed the positive test result for influenza A/H5N1 on the cerebrospinal fluid sample, and negative for influenza virus on the nasopharyngeal swab sample, and the Institute sent an urgent dispatch to report to the Department of Disease Prevention of the Ministry of Health.
The patient is currently being isolated and treated at the Infectious Resuscitation Department of Children's Hospital 1 in a state of breathing regularly with a ventilator, eyes open naturally, fever of 38.5oC, and stable vital signs.
As soon as the preliminary test results were available, the Department of Health directed the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC) to coordinate with Children's Hospital 1 and the Center for Disease Control of Tay Ninh province to conduct an epidemiological investigation and handle the outbreak according to regulations. Initial information recorded that the child had contact with chickens that died in large numbers at his grandmother's house 2 weeks ago. The patient is the second child in the family, has a history of congenital heart disease (ventricular septal defect) and had surgery at Children's Hospital 1 when he was 2 months old.
According to infectious disease experts, this is a rare case in which the A/H5N1 avian influenza virus damages the central nervous system and does not attack the respiratory tract. Normally, the A/H5N1 avian influenza virus causes epidemics in poultry and waterfowl, and humans are infected with the virus when in close contact with dead infected poultry. The main symptom of avian influenza infection is very severe pneumonia (acute respiratory distress syndrome) with a mortality rate of over 50%. Fortunately, the A/H5N1 avian influenza virus has not yet been transmitted from person to person.
Cases of encephalitis caused by H5N1 influenza have been recorded in world medical literature. In Dong Thap, during the outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza in humans in 2004, a team of experts from the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) in collaboration with the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and Children's Hospital 1 discovered influenza A/H5N1 virus in the cerebrospinal fluid of 2 children with symptoms of severe diarrhea, convulsions, coma and death, without any signs of respiratory disease. This result was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2005 (https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa044307).
The Department of Health has sent an official dispatch to the Ministry of Health, and at the same time directed Children's Hospital 1 to actively treat the patient, strictly comply with infection prevention regulations, and continue to coordinate with infectious disease experts from the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and OUCRU to conduct in-depth research on this special case.
To proactively prevent and control influenza A(H5N1) from spreading from poultry to humans, it is necessary to implement the following measures:
1. Do not eat sick, dead, or unknown poultry or poultry products.
2. Limit contact, slaughter, and eating wild animals, especially birds.
3. Do not slaughter, transport, buy or sell poultry and poultry products of unknown origin.
4. When discovering sick or dead poultry, absolutely do not slaughter or use it, but immediately notify the local authorities and veterinary unit in the area.
5. Eat cooked food and drink boiled water; wash hands with soap before eating.
6. If you have flu symptoms such as fever, cough, chest pain, difficulty breathing related to poultry, go to a medical facility immediately.
HCMC DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Thanh Chân
-
19:41, Fri Apr 18, 2025 (GMT+7)
HCMC - H hospitalized with sleepiness, confusion and mild confusion, an 8-year-old girl was diagnosed with encephalitis due to avian influenza H5N1. This is a rare case.
On the evening of April 18, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health said that the unit had just issued a quick report to the Ministry of Health on the case of female patient L.B.A (8 years old, Tay Ninh) with a diagnosis of encephalitis due to avian influenza H5N1.
Previously, on April 11, the child had a fever, headache, and vomiting many times. The child was admitted to a local hospital for 2 days of treatment but his condition did not improve. On April 13, the child was transferred to Children's Hospital 1 with a state of sleepiness, confusion, and a slight shyness at the time of admission. The child was diagnosed with encephalitis.
Children's Hospital 1 has taken samples of the brain and respiratory epidemic and sent them to the Testing Department of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases. On April 17, the PCR test result of the cerebrovascular disease was positive for influenza A/H5, the PCR test of respiratory diseases negative for influenza.
...
----------------------------------------------------------------
Translation Google
Saturday, April 19, 2025
Disease prevention
Updated: 17:42, April 18, 2025 Views: 1024
Quick information on the case of encephalitis caused by H5N1 avian influenza virus being treated at Children's Hospital 1
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has just reported to the Ministry of Health the case of a baby girl born in 2017 in Tay Ninh, diagnosed with encephalitis due to H5N1 avian influenza and is being treated at Children's Hospital 1.
Specifically, patient LBA, female, born in 2017, residing in Ben Cau, Tay Ninh, was transferred from Tay Ninh Provincial Hospital to Children's Hospital 1 on April 13, 2025 with a diagnosis of Meningoencephalitis.
On April 11, 2025, the patient developed fever, headache, and vomited many times. He was admitted to the provincial hospital for treatment for 2 days but his condition did not improve. On April 13, 2025, the patient was transferred to Children's Hospital 1 with drowsiness, confusion, and slight neck stiffness upon admission and was diagnosed with encephalitis.
Children's Hospital 1 collected cerebrospinal fluid and respiratory samples and sent them to the Laboratory Department of the Tropical Diseases Hospital. On April 17, 2025, the PCR test result of the cerebrospinal fluid was positive for influenza A/H5; the PCR test of the respiratory sample was negative for influenza. Children's Hospital 1 continued to send samples to the Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City to confirm the diagnosis. On April 18, 2025, the Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City confirmed the positive test result for influenza A/H5N1 on the cerebrospinal fluid sample, and negative for influenza virus on the nasopharyngeal swab sample, and the Institute sent an urgent dispatch to report to the Department of Disease Prevention of the Ministry of Health.
The patient is currently being isolated and treated at the Infectious Resuscitation Department of Children's Hospital 1 in a state of breathing regularly with a ventilator, eyes open naturally, fever of 38.5oC, and stable vital signs.
As soon as the preliminary test results were available, the Department of Health directed the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC) to coordinate with Children's Hospital 1 and the Center for Disease Control of Tay Ninh province to conduct an epidemiological investigation and handle the outbreak according to regulations. Initial information recorded that the child had contact with chickens that died in large numbers at his grandmother's house 2 weeks ago. The patient is the second child in the family, has a history of congenital heart disease (ventricular septal defect) and had surgery at Children's Hospital 1 when he was 2 months old.
According to infectious disease experts, this is a rare case in which the A/H5N1 avian influenza virus damages the central nervous system and does not attack the respiratory tract. Normally, the A/H5N1 avian influenza virus causes epidemics in poultry and waterfowl, and humans are infected with the virus when in close contact with dead infected poultry. The main symptom of avian influenza infection is very severe pneumonia (acute respiratory distress syndrome) with a mortality rate of over 50%. Fortunately, the A/H5N1 avian influenza virus has not yet been transmitted from person to person.
Cases of encephalitis caused by H5N1 influenza have been recorded in world medical literature. In Dong Thap, during the outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza in humans in 2004, a team of experts from the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) in collaboration with the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and Children's Hospital 1 discovered influenza A/H5N1 virus in the cerebrospinal fluid of 2 children with symptoms of severe diarrhea, convulsions, coma and death, without any signs of respiratory disease. This result was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2005 (https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa044307).
The Department of Health has sent an official dispatch to the Ministry of Health, and at the same time directed Children's Hospital 1 to actively treat the patient, strictly comply with infection prevention regulations, and continue to coordinate with infectious disease experts from the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and OUCRU to conduct in-depth research on this special case.
To proactively prevent and control influenza A(H5N1) from spreading from poultry to humans, it is necessary to implement the following measures:
1. Do not eat sick, dead, or unknown poultry or poultry products.
2. Limit contact, slaughter, and eating wild animals, especially birds.
3. Do not slaughter, transport, buy or sell poultry and poultry products of unknown origin.
4. When discovering sick or dead poultry, absolutely do not slaughter or use it, but immediately notify the local authorities and veterinary unit in the area.
5. Eat cooked food and drink boiled water; wash hands with soap before eating.
6. If you have flu symptoms such as fever, cough, chest pain, difficulty breathing related to poultry, go to a medical facility immediately.
HCMC DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
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