Ronan Kelly
Retired 2020
Girl's flu death raises questions about treatment Source: Global Times [01:53 November 18 2009] By Zhang Lei
Questions are being raised as to whether hospitals are able to prescribe suitable treatment to A(H1N1) flu patients after a girl in South China's Guangdong Province died before she was diagnosed with the virus.
The girl did not take Tamiflu, a drug to fight flu, before she died, raising questions about whether she could have been saved if she was given the anti-flu drug.
Chen Hongdi, 14, of Dongguan, had a sore throat and cough November 10, and went to the local people's hospital November 12 when she had a fever.
The hospital's respiratory department director Deng Nianqiang told a press conference Monday that they arranged a brain scan for Chen. Chen's condition deteriorated and she died at about 8 pm November 12.The local health authority conducted a series of tests after Chen's death, and confirmed Saturday that she died of respiratory failure, brain edema, intracranial pressure, and A(H1N1) flu.
Reporters asked whether Chen could have survived if she was given Tamiflu.
Deng said he believed the girl would have still died because her condition deteriorated rapidly.
"So far, we are not sure whether Chen's symptoms were caused by A(H1N1), and we need further tests to form a conclusion," Deng said. "It takes four to five hours for Tamiflu to be effective, and patients need to take the medicine for five to seven days. Her condition deteriorated very fast, and we had no time to save her."The A(H1N1) flu causes mostly heart and lung complications and brain complications rarely occur, Deng said.
Zhang Qiaoli, deputy director of Dongguan Disease Control and Prevention Center, said the new formula that the Ministry of Health announced November 4 to keep statistics by has made the number of deaths look higher.
"Any patients confirmed of A(H1N1) positive died during a continuous course of treatment are currently included in the A(H1N1) death report, regardless of whether they have basic diseases, or infected with other bacteria or viruses," she said.
The school Chen attended was not closed, as there was no group outbreak.
Zhang suggested that citizens get vaccinated as 210,000 shots will be allocated to Dongguan and school staff will get inoculated first.
Wu Zongcai, office director of Dongguan Health Bureau, told the Global Times that no further report was released as the case was being investigated.
Many A(H1N1) patients are young students. He Jianfeng, director of the epidemiology research institute at Guangdong Disease Control and Prevention Center, said young patients should get enough rest after becoming affected.
"But, no scientists can explain why young, healthy A(H1N1) infected persons either recover or get worse," he said.
In Taiwan, over 10 students got sick or fainted after they were vaccinated but they recovered. Most of the vaccinated 200,000 yesterday are OK.
By Sunday, 15.58 million people got vaccinated in 31 provincial areas. There were 69,160 A(H1N1) cases reported on the mainland, 53,612 were cured and 53 died, according to the Ministry of Health.
http://life.globaltimes.cn/health/2009-11/485964.html
Questions are being raised as to whether hospitals are able to prescribe suitable treatment to A(H1N1) flu patients after a girl in South China's Guangdong Province died before she was diagnosed with the virus.
The girl did not take Tamiflu, a drug to fight flu, before she died, raising questions about whether she could have been saved if she was given the anti-flu drug.
Chen Hongdi, 14, of Dongguan, had a sore throat and cough November 10, and went to the local people's hospital November 12 when she had a fever.
The hospital's respiratory department director Deng Nianqiang told a press conference Monday that they arranged a brain scan for Chen. Chen's condition deteriorated and she died at about 8 pm November 12.The local health authority conducted a series of tests after Chen's death, and confirmed Saturday that she died of respiratory failure, brain edema, intracranial pressure, and A(H1N1) flu.
Reporters asked whether Chen could have survived if she was given Tamiflu.
Deng said he believed the girl would have still died because her condition deteriorated rapidly.
"So far, we are not sure whether Chen's symptoms were caused by A(H1N1), and we need further tests to form a conclusion," Deng said. "It takes four to five hours for Tamiflu to be effective, and patients need to take the medicine for five to seven days. Her condition deteriorated very fast, and we had no time to save her."The A(H1N1) flu causes mostly heart and lung complications and brain complications rarely occur, Deng said.
Zhang Qiaoli, deputy director of Dongguan Disease Control and Prevention Center, said the new formula that the Ministry of Health announced November 4 to keep statistics by has made the number of deaths look higher.
"Any patients confirmed of A(H1N1) positive died during a continuous course of treatment are currently included in the A(H1N1) death report, regardless of whether they have basic diseases, or infected with other bacteria or viruses," she said.
The school Chen attended was not closed, as there was no group outbreak.
Zhang suggested that citizens get vaccinated as 210,000 shots will be allocated to Dongguan and school staff will get inoculated first.
Wu Zongcai, office director of Dongguan Health Bureau, told the Global Times that no further report was released as the case was being investigated.
Many A(H1N1) patients are young students. He Jianfeng, director of the epidemiology research institute at Guangdong Disease Control and Prevention Center, said young patients should get enough rest after becoming affected.
"But, no scientists can explain why young, healthy A(H1N1) infected persons either recover or get worse," he said.
In Taiwan, over 10 students got sick or fainted after they were vaccinated but they recovered. Most of the vaccinated 200,000 yesterday are OK.
By Sunday, 15.58 million people got vaccinated in 31 provincial areas. There were 69,160 A(H1N1) cases reported on the mainland, 53,612 were cured and 53 died, according to the Ministry of Health.
http://life.globaltimes.cn/health/2009-11/485964.html