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Autopsies suggested in bird flu fight
Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The national commission on bird flu has suggested the government conduct autopsies on all bird flu victims to better understand how the disease moves through the human body.
A panel of experts appointed by the commission said Friday that while the virus was primarily transmitted from birds to humans through the respiratory system, it spread through other organs, potentially resulting in fatal multiple organ failure.
Indonesia has the world's highest number of human deaths from the H5N1 bird flu virus. As of last week, 71 people died in Indonesia of the disease. Seven deaths were reported in March alone.
"There is no specific data on which of the (victims) died of multiple organ failure. Nor is there detail on whether it's a trend in the most recent cases. But experts are saying most of the 71 cases (resulted in multiple organ failure)," chairman of the National Commission for Avian Influenza and Pandemic Preparedness, Bayu Krisnamurthi said.
Speaking after Friday's closed-door meeting with the expert panel, Bayu said postmortem examinations performed on infected chickens showed the H5N1 virus had ravaged all of the animals' organs as severely as it had the lungs.
"In human cases, we haven't come so far (that we know) whether or not the virus is also spreading to other organs. Such a conclusion can only be reached through autopsies. It's really still a mystery," he said.
Bayu said performing autopsies would "need careful further consideration", since the procedure was laden with significant religious, social and legal considerations.
By law, only the police can ask for a family's consent for an autopsy on a dead body for investigation purposes. Religion is the main ground on which families refuse such requests.
Originally a poultry disease, avian influenza passes from sick birds to humans via airborne transmission. Though dangerous, infection is preventable through proper sanitation, including by avoiding contact with chickens, washing hands and properly cooking poultry products before eating them.
The great influenza pandemic of 1918-19 -- a key reference for scientists studying the potential for a modern bird flu outbreak -- has left a mysterious legacy. It took more than 80 years for scientists to exhume the body of a British diplomat believed to have died of the Spanish flu in 1919. The study was aimed at finding clues on how to fight a possible future global outbreak of avian influenza.
Due to its limited authority, the commission could only file a recommendation to the Health Ministry to push for a government regulation for the mandatory autopsy of dead bird flu victims.
"We hope the ministry takes this call seriously because through autopsies we can find an answer to the mystery (of how the disease attacks the body)," Bayu said.
Extreme measures such as banning people from leaving their apartment buildings and isolating infection-filled hospitals would not be unlikely in the event of an emergency outbreak, as shown by Hong Kong's 2002 effort to stem the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Bayu said the key to tackling the disease's high mortality rate was the early detection of bird flu infections and the immediate treatment of those showing the symptoms of avian influenza.
Without giving an exact date, Bayu said the commission's panel of experts would compare the DNA sequences recovered from humans with those from poultry.
Any difference between the DNA sequences found from humans and poultry would signify that the virus had mutated. Scientists fear the possibility of a mutation allowing the virus to transfer from one human to another, which could trigger a deadly worldwide pandemic.
Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The national commission on bird flu has suggested the government conduct autopsies on all bird flu victims to better understand how the disease moves through the human body.
A panel of experts appointed by the commission said Friday that while the virus was primarily transmitted from birds to humans through the respiratory system, it spread through other organs, potentially resulting in fatal multiple organ failure.
Indonesia has the world's highest number of human deaths from the H5N1 bird flu virus. As of last week, 71 people died in Indonesia of the disease. Seven deaths were reported in March alone.
"There is no specific data on which of the (victims) died of multiple organ failure. Nor is there detail on whether it's a trend in the most recent cases. But experts are saying most of the 71 cases (resulted in multiple organ failure)," chairman of the National Commission for Avian Influenza and Pandemic Preparedness, Bayu Krisnamurthi said.
Speaking after Friday's closed-door meeting with the expert panel, Bayu said postmortem examinations performed on infected chickens showed the H5N1 virus had ravaged all of the animals' organs as severely as it had the lungs.
"In human cases, we haven't come so far (that we know) whether or not the virus is also spreading to other organs. Such a conclusion can only be reached through autopsies. It's really still a mystery," he said.
Bayu said performing autopsies would "need careful further consideration", since the procedure was laden with significant religious, social and legal considerations.
By law, only the police can ask for a family's consent for an autopsy on a dead body for investigation purposes. Religion is the main ground on which families refuse such requests.
Originally a poultry disease, avian influenza passes from sick birds to humans via airborne transmission. Though dangerous, infection is preventable through proper sanitation, including by avoiding contact with chickens, washing hands and properly cooking poultry products before eating them.
The great influenza pandemic of 1918-19 -- a key reference for scientists studying the potential for a modern bird flu outbreak -- has left a mysterious legacy. It took more than 80 years for scientists to exhume the body of a British diplomat believed to have died of the Spanish flu in 1919. The study was aimed at finding clues on how to fight a possible future global outbreak of avian influenza.
Due to its limited authority, the commission could only file a recommendation to the Health Ministry to push for a government regulation for the mandatory autopsy of dead bird flu victims.
"We hope the ministry takes this call seriously because through autopsies we can find an answer to the mystery (of how the disease attacks the body)," Bayu said.
Extreme measures such as banning people from leaving their apartment buildings and isolating infection-filled hospitals would not be unlikely in the event of an emergency outbreak, as shown by Hong Kong's 2002 effort to stem the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Bayu said the key to tackling the disease's high mortality rate was the early detection of bird flu infections and the immediate treatment of those showing the symptoms of avian influenza.
Without giving an exact date, Bayu said the commission's panel of experts would compare the DNA sequences recovered from humans with those from poultry.
Any difference between the DNA sequences found from humans and poultry would signify that the virus had mutated. Scientists fear the possibility of a mutation allowing the virus to transfer from one human to another, which could trigger a deadly worldwide pandemic.