Thursday, August 23, 2007

Bali Hospitalizes Another Suspected Case

 

# 1080

 

 

Now that 2 confirmed (and 1 strongly suspected) cases of H5N1 have occurred on Bali, doctors there are taking a hard look at anyone with `bird flu-like' symptoms.    Anyone presenting with severe respiratory symptoms, particularly pneumonia, is suspect.

 

As we've learned in the past, however, most suspected cases turn out to be something other than bird flu.

 

Indonesia plays host to a variety of diseases that can mimic bird flu, including Dengue Fever, Chikungunya, and Malaria, and that can make detecting the disease difficult.   

 

As always, we will need to await test results (admittedly imperfect) before we can know if this is a genuine H5N1 vase.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bird flu fear rises in Indonesia's Bali with another patient

 

 

A 48-year old woman was admitted to hospital on the Indonesian resort island of Bali Thursday for developing bird flu symptoms, raising fear for a major outbreak after two women died of the disease on the island earlier this month.


 

The woman, identified by her initials LMR, was treated at an isolation room of the Sanglah Hospital in Bali's capital of Denpasar.


 

But doctors said laboratory test had not been carried out to confirm if she had bird flu, reported the national Antara news agency.

 


Besides her, another elderly woman is being treated at the same hospital for suspected bird flu.


 

Indonesia has confirmed 84 bird flu deaths so far, making it the highest toll among the affected countries so far.
Source: Xinhua