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Extended Familial Cluster of Suspected H5N1 in Jakarta
Recombinomics Commentary
November 2, 2005
The plague of birds flu (Afian influenza) again attacked Tangerang. This time his casualties, Ina Solati, 19, the mother one child. Moreover, three other families were stated still suspec (was expected) was affected by this virus.
After Ina was killed, according to his family, one of casualties' nephews, a brother, and casualties' child also was observed and stated suspek birds flu. They were Beautiful (the child, 10 months), the Priest, 8 (the brother), and Bintang, (the nephew 5 months). However, they could not be treated at the request of their parents.
The above comments further demonstrate that the familial clusters in Indonesia are extended, and coverage in the media is minimal. Today wire service reports mention the children, but fail to mention that they are related to a fatal case. The lack of treatment also points to a cover-up, which limits the number of patients admitted to the infectious disease hospital and also inhibits timely collection of samples for testing. The above procedures keep the number of confirmed clusters and cases low.
H5N1 is clearly more efficiently transmitted in Indonesia, but no 2005 sequences have been placed on deposit although WHO has admitted that the H5N1 wild bird flu sequences are a poor match for the pandemic vaccine as are human cases in Indonesia.
H5N1 does not read press releases, although in many cases even press releases are being withheld.
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