They’ve Got It Covered

 

# 5003

 

 

I realized long ago that when it comes to finding and posting `breaking’ medical or disease news, I’m no match for flublogia’s stalwarts like Crof, Chen Qi, or Arkanoid Legent  or the talented and dedicated newshounds on FluTrackers or the Flu Wiki.

 

So, recognizing my limitations, I try to take a couple of items each day and attempt to add value or context instead.

 

While I may not always succeed, it does keep me out of bars and bowling alleys.

 

But I digress . . .

 

The past couple of days has seen an explosion of news reports out of Haiti, and I would be remiss if I didn’t strongly urge my readers to visit Crofsblog several times a day to stay informed.  

 

He is doing a phenomenal job in keeping up with the latest, and his extended commentary this morning Haiti: Cholera as symptomatic relief for attention-deficit disorder is highly recommended.

 

 

You’ll find two areas on my sidebar of particular interest when it comes to keeping up with the latest news.   First, for a list of the latest offerings from Flublogia’s bloggers, you’ll find:

 

 

 

A little further down you’ll find another shorter list of blogs whose feeds don’t always work properly with my blogger real-time sidebar updates.

 

I would urge you to check out, and routinely visit, all of these sites.  

 

Note: Despite its name, `Flublogia’ covers more than just flu.  It embraces just about all of the emerging infectious diseases, along with public health and preparedness issues.

 

You’ll also find links to CIDRAP, and the various flu forums (I personally use FluTrackers and The Flu Wiki), along with dozens of other links of interest.  

 

As long as I’m making referrals this  morning, I would also point out that Maryn McKenna has an important piece on her Superbug blog  called  News break: A new type of MRSA spreads in Ohio

 

No one blog, or any one website, can cover the diverse and rapidly changing world of emerging infectious diseases effectively.  

 

But combined . . .  Flublogia manages to do darn good job.

Indonesian MOH Confirms 2 Bird Flu Fatalities

 

 

# 4985

 

 

I sleep much better these days knowing that stalwarts like Dutchy and Chen Qi in the Netherlands, Arkanoid Legent in Malaysia, and Ida at BFIC are minding the store while I slumber. 

 

As Crof points out in his insightful overnight blog Metablogging Flublogia, we are highly dependent upon their (other newshound’s) efforts.

 

And a prime example comes this morning from Arkanoid Legent and Ida at BFIC , who have both found, translated, and posted an update from the Indonesian Ministry of Health on two (relatively) recent bird flu fatalities.

 

Indonesia : Bird Flu case report until September 2010

This is an official press release from Indonesia's Ministry of Health, reports 2 confirmed human bird flu cases, both of whom has died :

(Continue to translation . . . )

 

 

Indonesia ::: Indonesia announces two bird flu cases

Posted by Ida on October 16, 2010

 

 

One of these cases MM (M, 35 years)  from West Jakarta, stems from late August and the other - LH (P, 40 years) from Depok West Java, occurred in early September.

 

Interestingly, this MOH statement doesn't contain the near-obligatory `patient had contact with dead or dying poultry’ disclaimer. In fact, there is no mention of a suspected route of infection at all.

 

It is possible that the WHO report which usually lags behind the MOH release by a few days, will contain more details.

 

Indonesia’s Health Ministry decided several years ago that constantly talking about their H5N1 problem was bad for the country’s image  (see Indonesia To Stop Announcing Bird Flu Deaths).

 

The MOH now only releases information at irregular intervals.  In 2009, we went more than 10 months between updates. 

 

In what may be a hopeful sign, this year, the MOH has been slightly more accommodating.  We’ve seen official updates in February, May, July, and now October.

 

Whether the numbers we get from these reports truly reflect the burden of human bird flu infections in that country is another matter. 

 

Surveillance and reporting are likely sub-optimal, particularly from some of the more remote regions of that archipelago nation where even basic medical care can be absent or difficult to obtain.

 

Testing for the virus has always been problematic, especially after Tamiflu has been administered, and has sometimes only been detectable during autopsy.

 

 

 

Despite these limitations to surveillance, the number of human infections around the world obviously remains quite low. 

 

The virus remains poorly adapted to human physiology, and despite ample opportunities in places like Egypt and Indonesia, only causes rare, sporadic infections.

 

The concern, of course, is that over time that may change.  And so the world remains at Pre-pandemic Phase III on the H5N1 virus, and we continue to watch for signs that the virus is adapting to humans.

 

Indonesia: 4 Bird Flu Suspects Hospitalized

 

 

 

#4947

 

 

This morning - via Ida at BFIC,  Arkanoid Legent, and Dutchy at FluTrackers  - we have three reports which state that 4 of the 18 people being monitored with flu-like symptoms in the wake of a bird flu outbreak in South Sulawesi (see The Ongoing Bird Flu Flap In Indonesia) are now hospitalized.

 

At this point, laboratory confirmation of H5N1 infection has not been received, and these remain merely `suspect’ cases. 

 

The Indonesian government has displayed continued  reluctance to discuss their country’s bird flu problem  (see Indonesia To Stop Announcing Bird Flu Deaths) – so when or even if - we get official comment on this outbreak is hard to say.

 

We’ll start with a hat tip to Arkanoid Legent - who has developed into a terrific resource and one of the best news gathering sites in Flublogia. 

 

Indonesia : Four Patients Suspected Bird Flu

Another translated report from Liputan 6, bird flu patients in South Sulawesi :

" Makassar: Four suspected bird flu infected patients treated at Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital, Makassar, South Sulawesi. The information obtained is SCTV, on Wednesday (29 / 9), four patients consisted of two children and two adults. They are referrals from district hospitals Pinrang.

 

Pediatric patients is Savira origin and Andrian Soppeng District of Pinrang. Two other patients are from Novi and Nawir also Pinrang. Nawir and Andrew are still one family.

 

Although there is no further examination, doctors suspected bird flu because they suffer from high fever after dozens of dead pet chicken."

 

 

Ida at the Bird Flu Information Corner has this translation of a report that appeared in the Indonesian newspaper Tempo Interaktif.   This is just an excerpt, follow the link to read it in its entirety.

 

 

Makassar, South Sulawesi ::: Wahidin Sudirohusodo hospital treats bird flu suspects

Posted by Ida on September 29, 2010

Makassar – Four people are being treated in Inspection Center of Wahidin Sudirohusodo, Makassar, Wednesday 29/09. Those patients are residents of Kabupaten (municipal) Pinrang and Soppeng.

 

Three patients came from Jampue, Kecamatan Lanrisang, Kabupaten Pinrang, identified as Novi (17), Nawir (42) and Adrian (4-year-old). They were admitted to Lanrisang Pinrang hospital at 5,00 am before transferred to Makassar.

 

A 3-year-old girl, Safira, from Kabupaten Soppeng had been admitted to Wahidin Sudirohusodo hospital on the previous day.

 

The four patients are currently having high fever.

 

Director of Wahidin Sudirohusodo hospital, Andi Kalsum Patonangi said those patients were suspected to contract bird flu infection. However, hospital is still waiting laboratory confirmation of bird flu infection.

 

(Continue . . . )

 

And last, but certainly not least, we’ve this translation of a detikNews story by the indefatigable Dutchy  which indicates that the 17 year-old boy may be in the most serious condition, while the three others are slowly improving.

 

This translation is posted on this ongoing FluTrackers Thread.

 

Four Suspects Bird Flu Treated in Hospital Wahidin Sudirohusodo Makassar

Muhammad Nur Abdurrahman - detikNews
Makassar - 4 residents Pinrang and Soppeng District, South Sulawesi, was treated in hospital intensive Wahidin Sudirohusodo DR, Makassar due to high fever.

 

The four were suspected suspect bird flu.

 

Two patients, namely Nawir (42), Adrian (4), derived from Sondra Village, District Jampue. Another patient Novi (17 yrs) from Samaule Village, District Lanrisang Pinrang. While the last patient Sapphire (3), toddlers origin Paroko Village, Sub District Lilirilau Soppeng.

 

All four are now isolated on the first floor space Inpection Center Hospital Wahidin Sudirohusodo. The third patient from the previous Pinrang Lasinrang was treated in hospitals in Pinrang.

 

General & Operations Director RS Wahidin, Kalsum Patonangi, said the four patients had high fever. In the neighborhood around his house, found hundreds of dead birds.

 

"At this time the blood samples of patients still in the examination in the laboratory," said Kalsum.
Kalsum add three patients, in addition to patient Novi, conditions are slowly improving. However the three should still be monitored in a special room Inspection Center.

 

My gratitude goes to these three newshounds - along with dozens of others - who work tirelessly in and around Flublogia to find, translate, and post these stories.  

 

Much of what I do here is dependant upon their fine efforts – which is why I hat tip them at every opportunity.

 

For now, it still isn’t clear whether any of these patients are infected with the H5N1 virus, and if so, how they may have contracted it. Hopefully more details will emerge over the next couple of days. 

 

The newshounds on the Flu forums (see Newshounds: They Cover The Pandemic Front) will keep this under close watch, and you can be sure that Crof, Arkanoid Legent, BFIC, Chen Qi and I will, as well.

 

Stay tuned.

The News Gathering Blogs

 

 

 

# 4885

 

 

As most of you are no doubt aware, I don’t try to cover every emerging disease story that crosses the wires.

 

Most days, I try to concentrate on the 2 or 3 stories that I find of greatest interest, do a little background research, and present them here with what I hope is useful context.

 

Which means that there are a lot of important stories that simply don’t end up on these pages.  Luckily, I’m not the only blogger covering the EID (Emerging Infectious Disease) beat.

 

I’ve often mentioned the hard work being done by the newshounds on the flu forums (I regularly visit FluTrackers and the Flu Wiki), and I honestly couldn’t do half of what I do without their considerable efforts.

 

They spend countless hours searching hundreds of newsfeeds every day, looking for any hint of an unusual outbreak of a disease in humans or animals.  And they do this not only in English, but in dozens of other languages as well.

 

For more details on how they go about this formidable task, I would direct you to Newshounds: They Cover The Pandemic Front.

 

But I rely also on the work being done by the news gathering bloggers, who do an amazing job every day sifting through news feeds looking for health and disease related stories.

 

 

There are a number of good disease-related news blogs, and you’ll find links to many of them in my sidebar, but I wanted to pay special homage this morning to the three I rely on most.

 

 

Crof of Crofsblog  (who is on a well deserved vacation this week) is the dean of flu bloggers, having been showing the rest of us how it ought to be done for more than 5 years now.  

 

By now, everybody should know Crof’s site. But if you aren’t a daily visitor to his site, you should be. 

 

A relative newcomer to the scene is Arkanoid Legent  out of Malaysia, who consistently provides one of the best daily roundups of infectious disease news on the net. 

 

Arkanoid has a genuine `nose for news’, and has become one of my favorite`go to’ sources for material each day.

 

Paul Klancnik in the Netherlands edits Chen Qi, which provides a tremendous amount of disease news in an easy to read newspaper format. 

 

You’ll find Chen Qi’s focus encompasses the aftermath of natural disasters, as well as disease outbreaks.

 

If you want a good sense of what is going on around the world each day regarding infectious diseases, these three sites will go a long ways towards achieving that goal.

 

I hit each of them several times each day, and am extremely thankful for their efforts.   

 

Highly recommended.

Follow Up On Kalimantan Province Report

 

# 4695

 

 

Earlier this week the Indonesian press had several reports of 4 children from Kalimantan Province being treated in the isolation unit of Dr Soedarso hospital in Pontianak for suspected `flu burung’ or bird flu.

 

Earlier another child from that region had been hospitalized and tested negative for H5N1, but a number of poultry had died in the area, raising suspicions (see Two Reports From Indonesia).

 

Today we learn via a translation on Arkanoid Legent’s website that two of these isolated children have tested negative for H5N1, but positive for pandemic H1N1.

 

It seems likely that the other two children will test negative for bird flu as well.

 

 

 

Indonesia : Negative for Bird Flu, Swine Flu Positive

More update (translated via Google) on the situation in West Kalimantan which was reported earlier. Excerpt, the report from Pontianak Post :

" PONTIANAK : Test results of laboratory examination of Research and Development Institute Ministry of Health in Jakarta for two patients, Dany Ardian (10) and Audina (8) susfect suspected H5N1 bird flu has been accepted party Soedarso Hospital. The results conclude that two negative pasein H5N1 (bird flu) but the positive H1N1 (swine flu). This was revealed in a press conference Soedarso Hospital party to a number of journalists, Friday (2 / 7). Description was submitted dr.Abdussalam, S.pp and dr.Dedet H, accompanied by the Head of Service S.ppa dr.Tita Sulandari Hospital and the Hospital of the public relations department, Rudy SH.

 

"Two patients who were treated in hospital isolation room negative Soedarso susfect bird flu, Influenza A type HINI positive. Type influenzanya than usual and not fatal bird flu, "said Dr. Abdussalam. And low in the cause of death. But be dangerous if not treated quickly. Because the virus attacks the human lung tissue.Which spread through the human rather than from pigs. While for two other patients, Ar and WN, are still awaiting results of laboratory examinations of Research and Development Institute Ministry of Health in Jakarta know the symptoms of a virus that attacks. Simultaneously Dedet, said fourth condition of the patient is now his condition continues to improve."

 

 

Just a word if I may about Arkanoid’s website.

 

Crof in particular, and I on occasion, have blogged about the need for more rational and responsible infectious disease bloggers, particularly from hot zone countries, but also from nations around the world. 

 

And not just for flu, but for other emerging diseases like Chagas, Dengue, Chikungunya, Hemorrhagic fevers, and others.

 

One such blog I’m happy to report is Arkanoid Legent, out of Malaysia.  You’ll find it listed on my sidebar under Specialty News Gatherers along with Chen Qi , BFIC, and SAIDIR.  

 

This is a site I visit every day, and if it isn’t on your list, it really should be.

 

A small taste, via Arkanoid’s links for Saturday July 3nd, will give you an idea of the range of subjects covered.

 

 

Philippines : DoH mobilizes personnel as dengue downs 678 in Northeastern Mindanao

Indonesia : Negative for Bird Flu, Swine Flu Positive

India : Malaria grips Arunachal

Venezuela : Venezuelan Grassroots Take On Dengue Epidemic

India : 15 test positive for H1N1

India : Stress on early detection among high-risk groups

Hong Kong : Vigilance urged against hand, foot and mouth disease

Sixty die of cholera, diarrhea in Cambodia

Suspected Acute Haemorrhagic Fever in the Republic of the Congo update

WHO : Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 - update 107