Fatal Bird Flu Case in Tra Vinh Vietnam
Recombinomics Commentary
January 4, 2005
>>Nine-year-old Thach Phung, from Cang Long district of the southern province of Tra Vinh died on Tuesday night, Luong Van Minh, Deputy Director of Tra Vinh provincial hospital told AFP.
He was initially treated at the provincial clinic, then transferred to the Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday.
"Tests in Ho Chi Minh City's Pasteur Institute before his death showed that the boy was positive to H5N1 virus," Minh said.<<
Recent reports of three suspected H5N1 cases in southern Vietnam indicate two of the three have tested positive for H5N1 and one has died, while the other two cases are or were in critical condition. The three cases range in age from 9 to 16 and fit the demographic profile from last season. All had links to infected birds and the three cases were reported within a short time frame.
Sequence data on the new isolates would be useful, but it appears that the case fatality rate for this season will be similar to the 70% rate for last season, in both Vietnam and Thailand. It will also be important to monitor contacts to see if human to human transmission has become more efficient.
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