# 5406
While I’ve been away from my desk this morning (it happens, but not often!) word of a second toddler from Dahka, Bangladesh with unusually mild H5N1 symptoms has crossed the wires.
Although from the same general area as the case reported on Monday, authorities state that the two cases are not connected.
Mild cases of H5N1 are viewed – a bit counter-intuitively – as being particularly notable because the less ill a person becomes, the more likely they are to have contact with others and potentially spread the virus.
Some scientists also worry that a decrease in severity could signal a better adaptation to human physiology.
You may recall that concerns were expressed back in 2009 when a number of similarly aged children in Egypt came down with very mild H5N1 infections.
During 2009, the CFR (case fatality ratio) in Egypt dropped to under 10%. The traditional pattern of mixed ages (although mostly under the age of 50), and a higher CFR (33%) has returned to Egypt since the start of 2010.
Obviously, with two cases cropping up at the same time in the same area, an epidemiological investigation is underway.
This report from BDNews24.
Another human case of bird flu surfaces
Wed, Mar 16th, 2011 6:40 pm BdST
Dhaka, March 16 (bdnews24.com) — Another human case of avian influenza has been detected in the Kamalapur area of the capital, two days after a 13-month-old girl was found carrying the H5N1 virus in the same locality.
The Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) discovered the fresh case while mopping up the area on Wednesday. It launched a drive in the locality following the detection of first case of the year in the area on Sunday.
IEDCR director Prof Mahmudur Rahman told bdnews24.com that a 31-month-old boy had been detected carrying the virus in their lab.
