VIETNAM: WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION CONFIRMS 5TH DEATH FROM BIRD FLU VIRUS; WHILE NINE OTHER CHILDREN WITH RESPIRATORY AILMENTS ARE TESTED FOR VIRUS
Record ID:
643510
VIETNAM: WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION CONFIRMS 5TH DEATH FROM BIRD FLU VIRUS; WHILE NINE OTHER CHILDREN WITH RESPIRATORY AILMENTS ARE TESTED FOR VIRUS
- Title: VIETNAM: WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION CONFIRMS 5TH DEATH FROM BIRD FLU VIRUS; WHILE NINE OTHER CHILDREN WITH RESPIRATORY AILMENTS ARE TESTED FOR VIRUS
- Date: 18th January 2004
- Summary: (W4) HANOI, VIETNAM (JANUARY 19, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. GATE OF THE NATIONAL HOSPITAL OF PEDIATRICS 0.04 2. CU: SIGN AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE HOSPITAL 0.08 3. VARIOUS OF WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO) EPIDEMIOLOGIST PETER HORBY IN HOSPITAL, READING PATIENTS' RECORDS (4 SHOTS) 0.26 4. VARIOUS OF CHILDREN PATIENTS WITH THEIR MOTHERS IN A ROOM AT PAEDIATRIC HOSPITAL (3 SHOTS) 0.37 5. (SOUNDBITE)(English) WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO) EPIDEMIOLOGIST PETER HORBY SAYING: "These are children who are doing quite well. So they may quite well just have a normal respiratory illness. The children that got the H5N1(Influenza A, a variant of bird flu), we still don't know where they've got it. And clearly, you know, the concern is they got it from the chickens and all of them have a history of exposure to chickens and there were some reports that some of these chickens were ill. But we do need to make further investigations, really." 1.01 (W4) HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM (JANUARY 18, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 6. VARIOUS OF CHICKEN BEING CULLED IN A FARM -- AROUND 6,000 CHICKENS WERE DESTROYED IN THIS PARTICULAR FARM (5 SHOTS) 1.30 (W4) HANOI, VIETNAM (JANUARY 19, 2004) (REUTERS) 7. (SOUNDBITE)(English) WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO) EPIDEMIOLOGIST PETER HORBY SAYING: "I think it's very difficult to say. We know that there's clearly some transition going on because one of the new confirmed cases was only admitted last Saturday. So she obviously had relatively recent exposure and we still haven't got specific information from the rest of the country to say whether the outbreak is on the increase or peaked or on the decline. We can't say yet." 1.55 8. VARIOUS OF HORNBY AND VIETNAMESE DOCTORS ATTENDING CHILDREN PATIENTS (5 SHOTS) 2.24 9. VARIOUS OF HORNBY WITH NGUYEN THANH LIEM, DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL HOSPITAL OF PEDIATRICS, AND OTHER VIETNAMESE DOCTORS IN A MEETING ROOM (3 SHOTS) 2.35 10. (SOUNDBITE)(English) DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL HOSPITAL OF PEDIATRICS NGUYEN THANH LIEM SAYING: "It's difficult to say, because you see in 1997, in Hong Kong, only 18 cases, but they called it epidemiology (meaning "epidemic"), but here in Vietnam, at least 5 cases confirmed by viral tests, it doesn't look like epidemiology (meaning "epidemic") because it's (referring to the cases) scattered." 3.01 11. SV/CU'S: MORE OF CHILD PATIENTS (3 SHOTS) 3.13 12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL HOSPITAL OF PEDIATRICS NGUYEN THANH LIEM SAYING: "Treatment is very difficult so we hope to see cooperation from international experts and we hope we could exchange with CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) experts about effective treatments." 3.32 13. MORE OF CHILD PATIENTS 3.37 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 2nd February 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: HANOI AND HO CHI MINH, VIETNAM
- Country: Vietnam
- Reuters ID: LVA1TAU2A4MQ6UQWE9SE5J4KP402
- Story Text: WHO confirms fifth dead from bird flu in Vietnam, as
nine other children with respiratory ailments are being
tested for the virus.
An eight-year-old girl has been confirmed as the
fifth person to die in Vietnam from an outbreak of bird
flu, while nine other children with respiratory ailments
are being tested for the virus, doctors said on Monday
(January 19).
The girl, from the northern province of Ha Tay, died on
Saturday (January 17).
She was taken to hospital in Hanoi on January 15 after
first showing symptoms on January 11, the World Health
Organisation said on Monday.
The WHO says there has been no sign the disease is
being spread between humans. Its victims are believed to
have caught it from infected chickens and eating cooked
chicken and eggs is safe, officials say.
At the main children's hospital in Hanoi, nine babies
were isolated in an infectious diseases ward. Medical
staff making the rounds were in full protective garb,
including masks.
The babies wailed as WHO epidemiologist Peter Horby
checked on their condition. None of the nine admitted with
respiratory illnesses is critical, Horby said.
"They are currently all well," he said, adding that
blood samples were being taken. "The children that got the
H5N1, we still don't know where they got it from," he said.
"Clearly the concern is they got it from the chickens and
all of them have a history of exposure to chickens and
there were some reports that some of these chickens were
ill. But we do need to make further investigations,
really."
While all of the confirmed human cases have taken place
near the capital Hanoi, in the north of the country, the
flu has struck poultry most severely in the south.
But experts are worried there might be a mixing of the
avian flu with a human flu and a new, contagious deadly
disease could sweep out of Asia, a year after Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) emerged and killed about 800
people around the world.
South Korea, Japan and Taiwan have also reported
outbreaks of bird flu but Vietnam has been the hardest hit.
Besides the five confirmed deaths, there have been seven
deaths suspected to have been caused by avian flu.
About two million chickens have been killed by the
disease or have been culled as authorities try to stamp it
out.
The transport of chickens has been banned across much
of southern Vietnam and their sale has been stopped in the
country's biggest city, Ho Chi Minh City, also in the
south.
The WHO has sent an epidemiologist to Ho Chi Minh City
to check whether any human cases of bird flu have emerged
there. Six experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention are expected to arrive in Hanoi on
Monday night.
One of the CDC team is an expert on influenza.
"We hope we can exchange with the CDC experts about the
efficacy of treatment," Nguyen Thanh Liem, director of the
children's hospital told Reuters Television in an
interview.
The children are being treated with antiviral drugs and
antibiotics, he said.
Liem said it was a "mystery" why the human flu cases
were clustered in the north, while the chickens were sick
in the south. Possible explanations are differing climate
conditions and that some cases in the south may not yet
have been diagnosed.
Two hospitals in the south have been treating suspected
avian flu patients. Kien Giang General Hospital said on
Sunday a man showing symptoms similar to those seen in bird
flu victims had died. A woman with the same symptoms was
recovering.
Can Tho Paediatric Hospital said on Monday a
two-month-old child died on Thursday from respiratory
illness.
Can Tho is among the 15 provinces that have declared an
outbreak of bird flu. Kien Giang, one of the southernmost
provinces in Vietnam, has not reported an outbreak.
Doctors say bird flu in humans looks similar to common
flu, with high fever, sore throat and a dry cough that can
deteriorate into severe respiratory problems.
A vaccine may take months to develop, Horby said.
The H5N1 variant of bird flu is the most deadly strain
although human fatalities from avian flu are very rare.
In 1997, six people in Hong Kong died from H5N1, which
prompted a cull of all poultry in the territory. In April
2003, a veterinarian in the Netherlands died from a
different strain of avian flu.
mh/fc
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