Apr 2, 2007 (CIDRAP News) – Three more Egyptian children have tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza, raising Egypt's H5N1 case count to 32, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported today.
One of the patients is a 4-year-old boy from Qena governorate, about 416 miles south of Cairo, whose 6-year-old sister was diagnosed with the disease on Mar 28, a WHO report said. He became ill Mar 26 and was hospitalized 3 days later.
The other patients are a 7-year-old boy from Sohag governorate, about 250 miles south of Cairo, who got sick Mar 26 and was hospitalized Mar 29, and a 4-year-old girl from Qalubiea governorate, just north of Cairo, who developed symptoms Mar 29 and was hospitalized the next day, the WHO said.
All the children had fevers and were being treated with oseltamivir, Reuters reported 2 days ago. The WHO described all as being in stable condition. Initial investigations showed that all had contact with dead birds; their contacts are under surveillance and appear healthy, the agency said.
Ten of the Egyptians diagnosed so far this year have been children. Thirteen of the country's 32 cases have been fatal.
In other avian flu developments, heath officials in Indonesia announced yesterday that a second round of tests confirmed that two patients who died of suspected H5N1 illness—a 28-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man—did have the virus, Agence France-Presse reported.
Last week Indonesia announced that five patients had positive preliminary tests for the H5N1 virus. The 28-year-old woman appears to be the central Jakarta patient whose Mar 28 death was announced by the health ministry on Mar 29. However, no 22-year-old man was mentioned in the reports of possible cases last week. (The only 22-year-old mentioned as a suspected H5N1 case last week was a female university student from southeastern Sumatra who died on Mar 24.)
By the WHO count, Indonesia has had 81 H5N1 cases with 63 deaths. But since Jan 29, Indonesia has reported as confirmed at least nine cases (including the two today) that have not yet been recognized by the WHO, plus several more cases with initial positive tests.
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