H7N9 sickens man in China's Hunan province
China reported one new H7N9 influenza infection, in a 30-year-old man from Hunan province, according to a Chinese media report that quoted the province's health department.
The report was translated and posted by FluTrackers, an infectious disease news message board. The patient is hospitalized, and the report didn't list his condition.
The man's infection pushes the outbreak's overall total to 422 infections, according to FluTrackers' updated case list. So far 286 of the cases have been reported in the outbreak's current second wave, compared with 136 during the first wave last spring.
In related developments, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it has received notifications of two more H7N9 cases, one reported by Hong Kong on Apr 13 and one reported by China on Apr 14.
Hong Kong's case involves an 85-year-old woman who got sick on Apr 11, which was 6 days after returning from a trip to visit family in Guangdong province, where she had contact with poultry. She was hospitalized on Apr 13 and is in critical condition.
The mainland's case involves a 52-year-old man from Jiangsu province who got sick on Apr 10 and was hospitalized on Apr 13, where he is listed in severe condition.
Apr 15 FluTrackers thread
FluTrackers human H7N9 case list
Apr 15 WHO statement
Study: Only 45% of adults, 57% of kids seek care for ILI
Only 45% of adults and 57% of children who had influenza-like illness (ILI) reported seeking healthcare, according to a large study by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
The CDC team interviewed, via phone, 75,088 adults in 31 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) and the parents of 14,649 children in 25 states and D.C. from January through April 2011. Of those groups, 8.9% of adults and 33.9% of kids reported recent ILI.
Among those who reported ILI, 45% of adults reported said they sought healthcare. Seeking medical care was highest in those 65 or older (60%) or who reported chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (62%), heart disease (59%), kidney disease (69%), disability (50%), being obese (52%), or having current (57%) or past (58%) asthma. Those with the lowest levels of healthcare seeking were Native American (34%), the unemployed (35%), and those with no insurance (27%) or no personal doctor (38%).
Among children with ILI, 57% sought healthcare, led by those 0 to 4 years old (68%), 5 to 11 years old (56%), African-American (67%), or Hispanic (64%).
Of adults with ILI who sought medical care, 35% sought care within 3 days and 47% within 3 to 7 days of the start of symptoms. Jobless adults and those with no insurance were especially likely to delay care, with only 23% to 27% seeking care within 2 days.
In addition, 34% of those who were diagnosed as having influenza were given antiviral drugs, the investigators reported, similar to the 36% antiviral prescribing rate during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
The authors conclude, "Further efforts are needed to educate persons at high risk to seek healthcare early and to identify reasons why persons at high risk are not receiving influenza antivirals."
Apr 13 J Infect Dis study