Daughter of Indonesian H5N1 patient infected

Feb 12, 2008 (CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today reported that a 15-year-old girl from Indonesia is hospitalized in critical condition with an H5N1 avian influenza infection, a week after her mother's H5N1 illness was announced.

The girl, who is from West Jakarta, got sick on Feb 2 and was hospitalized 6 days later, according to a statement from the WHO. She is listed as Indonesia's 127th case-patient.

An investigation into the girl's illness is ongoing, though the WHO said she was exposed to her sick mother on Jan 27 and 28 and also spent time in a neighborhood where chickens and other birds were present. The WHO said samples from the birds have been taken to determine if they were the source of the girl's infection.

The girl's mother fell ill on Jan 23 and was hospitalized 3 days later. The WHO's Feb 5 statement on the woman, who is listed as Indonesia's 126th case-patient, said she was in critical condition. The report gave no details about the source of her infection.

Indonesia's last known family cluster of H5N1 cases was reported in January 2007, when an 18-year-old boy's H5N1 illness was confirmed after his mother died of the disease. The mother was from Tangerang, a suburb of Jakarta. The son's place of residence was not listed, but a Jan 15, 2007, WHO statement on his illness said the son and his mother probably had the same environmental exposure to the virus.

With the latest case, the WHO's global H5N1 count has reached 360 cases with 226 deaths.

See also:

Feb 12 WHO statement

WHO's global H5N1 case count

Feb 5 CIDRAP News story "WHO: H5N1 strikes two more Indonesians"

Jan 16, 2007, CIDRAP News story "H5N1 hit Indonesian mother, son, but not father"