Suspected bird flu patient 'escapes' isolation room
Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Isolation rooms are supposed to mean just that: no contact with outsiders. But that rule doesn't apply for suspected bird flu patients at Sardjito Hospital in Yogyakarta.
A bird flu patient at the hospital, 55-year-old TP, was seen loitering along the hospital corridors on Tuesday, smoking and chatting with visitors.
According to several nurses, the native of Playen village in Gunungkidul regency earlier claimed he wanted to go to bathroom, but went to smoke in the corridors instead.
"Ten njero sumuk je (it's hot inside), that's why I went out," TP said.
The suspected bird flu patient told journalists he "escaped" the isolation room three times because he could not stand the heat and craved cigarettes.
He said several chickens in his home died suddenly on Sunday. He buried them without wearing a mask or gloves.
"I think I did wash my hands before eating, but not with soap," he said.
On Monday, he experienced a fever, coughing, and had trouble breathing. He went to a nearby community health center, but after the clinic found out he had direct contact with dead chickens he was referred to Sardjito Hospital.
Hospital administrators panicked when told by journalists that TP was roaming outside, and promptly escorted him back into the isolation room.
A recent resurgence of bird flu has killed six people across the country only within this month. The country's human fatalities from the H5N1 virus stand at 63, the highest in the world.
In Yogyakarta alone, the number of suspected bird flu patients has been on the increase.
On Monday night, five more people suspected to have the virus were brought in, bringing the total number being treated at the hospital up to 11 as of Tuesday. This month alone, the hospital has treated 14 patients, one of whom has died of the virus.
Head of the hospital's team in charge of dealing with bird flu, Sumardi, said Tuesday that out of the five new patients, one came from Yogyakarta and the others were a family of four from Playen, Gunungkidul. TP is a member of that family.
The hospital has only 11 beds in the isolation rooms. Sumardi said the hospital has written to the Yogyakarta health office requesting community health centers and other hospitals to conduct routine blood tests on suspects before referring them to Sardjito.
"This measure is necessary, just in case the patients are suffering from a common fever. This is also to prevent the isolation rooms from being overwhelmed," he said.
Meanwhile, only three Central Java regencies -- Batang, Blora and Rembang -- are still free from bird flu. The virus has affected poultry in the other 32 regencies and cities.
The Central Java administration's third assistant on people's welfare, Slamet Budi Prayitno, said Tuesday the virus had killed four people in the province between 2005-2007.
-- Suherdjoko contributed to the article from Semarang, Central Java.
