HK infant infected with H9N2

[Sally Furniss]

HK infant infected with mild strain of bird flu

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2007/200703/20070320/article_309688.htm

HONG Kong officials today said a 9-month-old girl was infected with H9, a less virulent strain of bird flu, according to The Associated Press.

The baby was hospitalized in early March with a fever and respiratory symptoms, said Eva Wong, a spokeswoman at the Department of Health. The child has already been treated and has returned home, said Wong, who couldn't provide further details.

The city's last case of H9 was reported in 2003, Wong said.

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: HK infant infected with H9

Re: HK infant infected with H9

http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PEK113280.htm

HONG KONG, March 20 (Reuters) - A nine-month-old girl in Hong Kong has tested positive for the H9N2 virus, a mild form of bird flu, a Health Department official said on Tuesday.

There are many types of avian flu viruses and experts are more worried about the H5 and H7 subtypes, which they think have a higher potential to mutate into forms that could pass easily between people and cause a pandemic.

The H5N1 strain, which has killed at least 169 people since 2003, is scientists' top concern at the moment.

Thomas Tsang, controller of the Centre for Health Protection, told reporters the infant was often taken to a wet market with live poultry near her home -- and probably got infected there.

"In the week before she fell ill, she was taken to the market everyday ... children should not be exposed to live poultry and if possible, they shouldn't be taken to wet markets," he added.

The infant has recovered and was discharged on March 9, but will be readmitted to hospital for more tests, he said. Her family members have showed no symptoms.

 

[Sharpe]

Re: HK infant infected with H9

Re: HK infant infected with H9

Keep in mind that H5 and H9 are very similar, and continuously exchange genes. It's very important to know how H9 strains are changing. Over the last year, thousands of people across Southeast Asia including Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia have been declared by physicians as suspected bird flu patients and reported in the news media as such, but H5N1 tests were negative. Most of the time, those cases were milder and non-lethal. Tests for H9 or H7 would not have been done. They should have been done.

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: HK infant infected with H9

Re: HK infant infected with H9

HK baby survives mild bird flu infection


Wednesday, March 21, 2007 at 05:00 EST
HONG KONG ? <!-- google_ad_section_start -->Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection confirmed Tuesday a 9-month-old girl has recovered from an infection of a mild form of the bird flu virus, H9N2, but the source of infection remains unclear.

The girl was hospitalized March 4 with fever and upper respiratory infections. She recovered and was discharged five days later. Tests results confirmed H9N2 infection and the girl is being readmitted to hospital in isolation for further observation.

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/401397<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: HK infant infected with H9

Re: HK infant infected with H9

Hong Kong investigates baby bird flu case <!-- END HEADLINE -->
<!-- BEGIN STORY BODY -->Tue Mar 20, 1:25 PM ET



Hong Kong health authorities are investigating the case of a nine-month-old girl infected with a strain of bird flu after similar past cases, health officials said Tuesday.

Centre for Health Protection head Thomas Tsang said it was the third time the H9N2 virus has been detected in humans in Hong Kong.

A five-year-old boy was infected with the virus in 2003 and in 1999, two girls aged four years and 13 months were infected but all three children recovered.

H9N2 usually causes mild symptoms in humans similar to common influenza viruses.

The Hospital Authority said it was "very concerned" about the case.
It said the girl had been isolated at Princess Margaret Hospital and was being monitored, although her condition was stable, with mild symptoms of a runny nose.

United Christian Hospital, which had treated and released the girl earlier, would conduct a review of all health care workers who had been in close contact with the girl, the authority said in a statement.

"A special meeting of the authority's Central Committee on Infectious Disease (CCID) was held this afternoon (Tuesday). During the meeting, experts ... discussed the related risk assessment and existing infection control measures," it said.

Tsang said the girl was admitted to the United Christian Hospital on March 6 after developing symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection and fever on March 4. She was discharged on March 9.

The doctor said tests Tuesday showed the influenza A (H9N2) virus.
"Further genetic sequencing is being conducted to determine if the virus is completely of avian origin," he said in a statement.

"This is an isolated case and the source of infection is being investigated. Based on previous experience, however, we will look especially into bird-to-human transmission," he said.

The Centre for Health Protection said the girl had not travelled outside Hong Kong recently, and her family members had no flu symptoms.

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed more than 160 people worldwide since 2003, mostly in Southeast Asia, according to the World Health Organisation.

Scientists fear it could mutate into a form easily spread among humans, leading to a global pandemic with the potential to kill millions.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070320/hl_afp/healthfluhongkong

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: HK infant infected with H9

Re: HK infant infected with H9

No human transmission in baby's bird flu

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=310353

HEALTH investigators in Hong Kong have ruled out the possibility of human-to-human transmission in a case involving a nine-month-old baby who developed a mild form of avian influenza, Center for Health Protection Controller Dr Thomas Tsang said.

Speaking on a radio talk show on Saturday, Dr Tsang said genetic sequencing studies of the virus isolated from the nine-month-old girl - H9N2, a mild strain of bird flu - showed all genes from the virus are of avian origin.

Dr Tsang said the results suggested the virus was directly transmitted from a bird to the girl, without mingling with a human flu virus.

The girl had no contact wild birds before the onset of the symptoms. Dr Tsang said she may have contracted the virus at a neighborhood wet market in Hong Kong's New Territories, which she visited several times with her family.

He also reported that tests on respiratory specimens taken from a health-care worker and three children who were in the same cubicle in the United Christian Hospital with the girl in early March were all negative for the H9 virus. Also, her family members have no symptoms, Dr Tsang said, noting the case did not involve human-to-human transmission.

However, he said children with poorer immunity may be more susceptible to the virus. H9N2 cases recorded in 1999 and 2003 also involved children below age five.

On average, samples of 40,000 flu cases will be tested a year for surveillance. Dr Tsang said both H5 and H9 viruses are related to birds and can be transmitted from birds to humans, but the H5 virus has a mortality rate of 70 percent, while the H9 strain has symptoms and mortality similar to common colds.