Location of Beijing (red) to Affected Provinces
# 7124
While I was away from my desk for a few hours this evening, confirmation of the suspected case in Beijing (see H7N9: Watching A Suspect Case In Beijing and FluTrackers Thread ) was announced by Beijing’s Department of Health – bringing the current total of infected to 44 – and considerably expanding the known geographic range of the virus.
We have a report from CIDRAP, an article from Xinhua News, and lastly excerpts from the Health Department Statement (machine translated), which is quite lengthy.
Burning the midnight oil, and making some sense of all of this, is Lisa Schnirring of CIDRAP NEWS who has the details, along with some reactions from Michael T. Osterholm, CIDRAP’s Director regarding what this might signify.
Beijing reports first H7N9 infection
Lisa Schnirring
Staff Writer
Apr 13, 2013 (CIDRAP News) – Beijing health authorities today confirmed an H7N9 infection in a 7-year-old girl who lives in the city, the first case to be detected outside of eastern China, according to Chinese media sources.
All of the earlier cases were reported from Shanghai and surrounding provinces. Beijing is more than 650 miles in a straight line north and slightly west of Shanghai. The event raises more questions about the virus in birds and the threat it poses to humans.
From the Chinese State News agency Xinhua:
Beijing reports first case of H7N9 infection
English.news.cn 2013-04-13 09:22:36
• A 7-year-old girl in Beijing was infected with the H7N9 strain of bird flu, the first such case in Beijing.
• The child is being treated at the Beijing Ditan Hospital, and is in stable condition.
• The new case raised the number of H7N9 infections in China to 44.
BEIJING, April 13 (Xinhua) -- A seven-year-old girl in Beijing was infected with the H7N9 strain of bird flu, the first such case in the Chinese capital, local health authorities said Saturday.
The case was confirmed following a test by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention early on Saturday.
The child is being treated at the Beijing Ditan Hospital, and is in stable condition, Zhong Dongbo, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, said in a press briefing.
The girl developed flu symptoms, including fever, cough, sore throat and headache, Thursday morning. She was brought to the Beijing Ditan Hospital to seek medical treatment around noon and was then hospitalized for lung infection.
The child received the drug Tamiflu as well as intravenous drips on Thursday night and later was transferred to an intensive care unit after condition worsened. After an oxygen therapy and other treatment, her suffocation and coughing symptoms eased markedly and body temperature fell to 37 degrees Celsius from 40.2 degrees Celsius, a spokesman with the Beijing Ditan Hospital said.
Two people who have had close contact with the child have not shown any flu symptoms, a spokesman said. He added that the girl's parents were engaged in live poultry trading in a township of Shunyi District in Beijing's northeastern suburbs.
The new case raised the number of H7N9 infections in China to 44, with all the other 43 in the eastern parts of the country. The first known human infections have claimed the lives of 11 people, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.
And lastly, from Beijing’s Health Department website, excerpts from their press release:
The time :2013 -04-13 Source: Beijing Municipal Health Bureau views: 281
In the early morning of April 13, the China CDC review, the city comprehensive judgment first case of human infection with the H7N9 avian influenza confirmed cases. The patients are in stable condition, two close contacts found no abnormalities. The case, the situation is as follows:
The patients Yaomou, female, 7 years old, living in the old village center of Houshayu Town Street, Shunyi District. The patients parents live engaged in the live birds trafficking work. Children symptoms such as fever, sore throat, cough, headache in the morning of April 11, 11:00 to Ditan Hospital emergency department visits, admitted to the hospital for lung infection in 13:00.
Based on further examination results and the progression of the disease after admission, the hospital on 12 May 0100: 50 cases of influenza surveillance reported to the Chaoyang District CDC, 3:00 specimens sent to Chaoyang District CDC. At 10:00 on the 12th Chaoyang District CDC confirmed influenza A universal primer nucleic acid testing positive, and the specimens were sent at 11:00 Beijing CDC review detection. At 15:30 on the 12th Beijing Municipal Center for Disease Control detected the H7N9 avian influenza virus nucleic acid in accordance with the provisions of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, and suspected cases of the samples sent to China CDC review of detection.
In the early morning of the 13th, the Chinese Center for Disease Control feedback the outcome of the review. Clinical expert in Beijing, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and the Beijing CDC pathogen detection and review results, combined with the patient's clinical manifestations, epidemiological investigation, in accordance with the National Health and Family Planning Commission to develop the people infected with the H7N9 avian flu clinics program (2013, second edition) ", the overall judgment of the cases of human infection of H7N9 avian influenza confirmed cases.
The children admitted to hospital, hospital to be anti-infection and symptomatic treatment. Confirmed cases of influenza surveillance, hospital give children Tamiflu antiviral rehydration supportive care, after given ECG are too sick to go to the ICU ward, give suck in at 23:50 on the 11th (15 hours from the time of onset) oxygen therapy; same time, Chinese proprietary Yinqiao the Powder Plus White Tiger Decoction given in Chinese medicine services. After active treatment, children with cough hold your breath symptoms improved, body temperature down to 37 ° C from the highest of 40.2 ℃, lung wet rales disappeared. The patient's condition is stable.
Recognized as suspected cases, the Beijing Municipal Center for Disease Control, Shunyi District and Chaoyang District CDC disposal to investigate the scene, confirmed that two close contacts and medical observation measures. As of now, the two close contacts found no abnormalities.
The first case of human infection with the H7N9 avian influenza diagnosis and treatment process, from the first visit to the diagnosis process, only a day and a half's time, children with the disease will soon be effectively controlled, fully display the city early prevention and control work results.
The discovery of a confirmed case in the nation’s capital - hundreds of kilometers away from the other cases - raises the stakes in this outbreak.
The critical step at this stage is nailing down the source (or sources) of infection, and stopping this spillover into humans before it gives the virus an opportunity to mutate into a more easily spread pathogen.
Stay tuned.
