H7N9 girl, 7, on the road to recovery
By Jessamine Zhao |
April 16, 2013, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
China's death toll from the H7N9 bird flu rose to 14 yesterday as authorities said a 77-year-old woman succumbed to her infection on Sunday night.
In Beijing, a four-year-old boy was found to be a carrier of the virus but showed no symptoms, adding to the unknowns about the virus that has infected 63 people. He is not included in the infection cases.
Officials in Jiangsu Province announced the woman's death along with another new case, a 60-year-old man who tested positive for H7N9 yesterday and was being treated in a Suzhou hospital.
A 79-year-old patient in Nanjing is said to be recovering and has been moved to a regular ward from intensive care.
Neighboring Zhejiang Province reported a new case. A 68-year-old woman is in a critical condition after testing positive yesterday. She had fallen ill on April 3.
A man in Anhui Province also tested positive yesterday.
China now has a total of 63 H7N9 cases ? 24 in Shanghai, 17 in Jiangsu, 16 in Zhejiang, three in Anhui, two in Henan and one in Beijing.
In the capital, the boy, surnamed Zhu, tested positive for H7N9 on Sunday night, but has shown no symptoms so far. Doctors found the boy when checking people who had contact with Beijing's first confirmed case, a seven-year-old girl.
The boy has been transferred to Beijing Ditan Hospital for further observation, the city's Health Bureau said.
Zhong Dongpo, bureau deputy director, said that, as puzzling as the case is, the boy adds another data point to medical experts' limited understanding of H7N9.
"This is very meaningful because it shows that the disease caused by this virus has a wide scope. It's not only limited to critical symptoms. There can also be slight cases, and even those who don't feel any abnormality at all. So we need to understand this disease in a rational and scientific way," Zhong said at a news briefing.
The boy's parents are in the poultry and fish trade and their neighbor had bought a chicken from the family of the capital's first H7N9 patient, health officials said.
Health authorities had been testing 24 people who had contact with the father of the patient.
The girl is recovering well, said Zhong, adding that subsequent tests for H7N9 had proved negative.
She has been transferred from the intensive care unit to a regular ward in the infectious diseases department of the Ditan Hospital, and was expected to be discharged soon.
Zhong denied reports that her mother was in the hospital with a fever.
He said the girl had been missing her parents and they had been allowed to stay with their daughter.
Her parents had shown no abnormal symptoms, Zhong said.
Eight people who had bought live poultry from her father had all been found and had shown no symptoms but they will be monitored for another week, Zhong said.
Jiang Qingwu, a professor and epidemiologist with Shanghai's Fudan University, said there had been no obvious change in the flu virus situation.
"Although the expansion of the virus matches the migrating season and routes of birds, it is hard to use this to explain all the cases," Jiang said.
Jiang said the focus should be on analyzing the relationship between poultry and the virus.
In Beijing, a four-year-old boy was found to be a carrier of the virus but showed no symptoms, adding to the unknowns about the virus that has infected 63 people. He is not included in the infection cases.
Officials in Jiangsu Province announced the woman's death along with another new case, a 60-year-old man who tested positive for H7N9 yesterday and was being treated in a Suzhou hospital.
A 79-year-old patient in Nanjing is said to be recovering and has been moved to a regular ward from intensive care.
Neighboring Zhejiang Province reported a new case. A 68-year-old woman is in a critical condition after testing positive yesterday. She had fallen ill on April 3.
A man in Anhui Province also tested positive yesterday.
China now has a total of 63 H7N9 cases ? 24 in Shanghai, 17 in Jiangsu, 16 in Zhejiang, three in Anhui, two in Henan and one in Beijing.
In the capital, the boy, surnamed Zhu, tested positive for H7N9 on Sunday night, but has shown no symptoms so far. Doctors found the boy when checking people who had contact with Beijing's first confirmed case, a seven-year-old girl.
The boy has been transferred to Beijing Ditan Hospital for further observation, the city's Health Bureau said.
Zhong Dongpo, bureau deputy director, said that, as puzzling as the case is, the boy adds another data point to medical experts' limited understanding of H7N9.
"This is very meaningful because it shows that the disease caused by this virus has a wide scope. It's not only limited to critical symptoms. There can also be slight cases, and even those who don't feel any abnormality at all. So we need to understand this disease in a rational and scientific way," Zhong said at a news briefing.
The boy's parents are in the poultry and fish trade and their neighbor had bought a chicken from the family of the capital's first H7N9 patient, health officials said.
Health authorities had been testing 24 people who had contact with the father of the patient.
The girl is recovering well, said Zhong, adding that subsequent tests for H7N9 had proved negative.
She has been transferred from the intensive care unit to a regular ward in the infectious diseases department of the Ditan Hospital, and was expected to be discharged soon.
Zhong denied reports that her mother was in the hospital with a fever.
He said the girl had been missing her parents and they had been allowed to stay with their daughter.
Her parents had shown no abnormal symptoms, Zhong said.
Eight people who had bought live poultry from her father had all been found and had shown no symptoms but they will be monitored for another week, Zhong said.
Jiang Qingwu, a professor and epidemiologist with Shanghai's Fudan University, said there had been no obvious change in the flu virus situation.
"Although the expansion of the virus matches the migrating season and routes of birds, it is hard to use this to explain all the cases," Jiang said.
Jiang said the focus should be on analyzing the relationship between poultry and the virus.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
