Bird Flu Cluster in Quang Binh Grows to Four
Recombinomics Commentary
March 18, 2005
>> In late February, Duong's family, who live in a bird flu-hit area, slaughtered a chicken given by one of their relatives for meal, and several days later the family's three children suffered sudden illness, he said.
One day after being admitted to a hospital in Quang Binh, Duong 's 13-year-old sister died.
Now, the boy is receiving treatment at a hospital in the neighboring city of Hue after being hospitalized on March 15.
On March 17, a person from Quang Binh's Quang Trach district was admitted to a hospital in the district with bird flu symptoms of temperature and breathing difficulty, Min said. <<
The above report raises the number of family members to three, but provides no detail on the age, gender, or current status of the third sibling. H5N1 has now been confirmed for the 5 year old boy, although media reports include admission dates of March 12 and March 15.
Similarly, there are conflicting reports on the date of death of the sister, which has been reported as March 5 and March 9. It is not clear if either of these dates is connected to the third sibling.
The March 17 admission of another patient from Quang Binh, but from an adjacent district raises the number of patients in the geographical cluster to four. The relationship, if any, of the fourth person to the three siblings is not reported. However, since Tuyan Hoa and Quang Trach are adjacent districts in the northern portion of Quang Binh, and at least one sibling was treated locally, the contact history of the fourth person, especially if that person was a health care worker, would be useful.
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