Thursday, March 29, 2007

Indonesia: Media Reports HCW's Being Tested

 

# 604

 

 

Since official information out of Indonesia is often slow in coming, the newshounds on the Internet spend a great deal of time translating local media reports.    These reports don't always pan out, and the translation software (from Bahasa to English) often provides confusing results.

 

Still, it is often our best source of early information.

 

Today Liputan 6 TV is reporting on the testing of contacts with Marwiyah, one of the recent fatalities from Palembang.   They also state that the family cat is being investigated as a possible source of the infection.

 

A hat tip to  Influentia2 on the Wiki for finding this report.

 

Liputan6.com, Palembang: the Source of the spread of bird flu that killed Marwiyah the daughter from Palembang, South Sumatra, till Thursday early afternoon (29/3), still was mysterious.

 


The cat around the Marwiyah residence then was checked.

 

Although being not yet found by the case of the spread apart from the poultry, it was worried about currently the cat could also become the source penular [read: Bird Flu was Still becoming the Threat].

 

Was different to the case of the spread of the virus avian other influenza, around the Marwiyah house was not found the poultry.

 

Then, apart from checking the kept Marwiyah cat, the official of the local Health of the Service planned to comb several places.

 

Including the location of the real Marwiyah work lecture and the place market he normally buys the piece chicken.

 

All that in order to ascertain this deadly virus origin.

 

The correspondent SCTV Ajmal Rokian and Yanuar Ichrom reported, the example of blood of eighty medical staff and several neighbours who it was suspected had been touching with Marwiyah also was researched.

 

Four nurses who had been directly touching with Marwiyah, evidently could experience hot high for three days.

 

One of the signs we look for when a human infection occurs is the spread of the infection to HCW's (Health Care Workers).

 

Right now, all we know is HCW's are being tested, and 4 nurses reportedly have experienced `hot, high' (fevers) for 3 days.   Nurses are exposed to all sorts of fever inducing pathogens, particularly in a country like Indonesia, and so there may be no correlation between the H5N1 infection and their illness.

 

Still, this is something to keep an eye on.