H5 Confirmed in Patient in Laos
Recombinomics Commentary
February 26, 2007
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yong Chanhthalousy confirmed that authorities have received a confirmation from the Mahidol Institute in Bangkok that the girl, who has been moved to Nong Khai Hospital in north-eastern Thailand, has tested positive for H5
The health of the girl, who was first hospitalized in Vientiane on February 15 and later transferred to Nong Khai Hospital on February 24, was improving, according to Yong.
The above comments confirm H5 in a patient in Laos. Confirmation of H5N1 is highly likely, since all hospitalized patients with bird flu symptoms and confirmed H5 have been H5N1. This patient would be the first H5N1 confirmed patient in Laos. The patient is improving and media reports indicate the patient had mild symptoms..
In 2004, when H5N1 was confirmed in patients in Vietnam and Thailand, there was concern that human cases in Laos would not be detected because of a poor health care infrastructure. Clade 1 H5N1 in patients in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand have been reported previously, but the above case is the first H5 confirmation in Laos.
Mild H5N1 cases have been a cause for concern, because of potential dual infections involving H5N1 and seasonal flu. H5N1 in Laos would strongly suggest H5N1 was more widespread that the single confirmed case in Laos, and additional cases in neighboring Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia would be expected.
More details on the sequence of the H5 in Laos would be useful because false negatives due to mismatched primers remains a cause for concern as does dual infections in mild H5N1 cases.
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