1 year ago
77 An 11-year-old miss successful Cambodia has died successful infirmary aft catching vertebrate flu. Her begetter has tested affirmative for the microorganism responsible, but it is unclear whether helium caught the corruption from her oregon the family's poultry collection
Health 24 February 2023By Clare Wilson
Ducks astatine a marketplace successful Phnom Penh, Cambodia, connected 24 February TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP via Getty Images
A miss has died from bird flu successful Cambodia aft perchance catching it from her family’s tiny flock of chickens and ducks. At slightest 1 of her adjacent contacts has besides tested positive, but authorities are inactive waiting connected the results of investigating her wider circle.
How galore radical person died from vertebrate flu successful the latest clump of cases?
An 11-year-old miss from Cambodia has died from a subtype of the vertebrate flu microorganism called H5N1 successful the agrarian Prey Veng province, a portion adjacent to the superior Phnom Penh. She developed flu-like symptoms connected 16 February and aft her information deteriorated, she was sent to hospital, wherever she died. Out of 12 of her adjacent contacts who person been tested, lone her begetter has truthful acold been recovered to beryllium affirmative for the virus.
How did she drawback it?
It could person been from her family’s tiny postulation of ducks and chickens, arsenic each the animals astatine her location – 22 chickens and 3 ducks – had precocious died, according to BNO News, but the origin of their deaths is unknown. There person besides been a fig of fatalities among chaotic birds successful the area.
Is vertebrate flu present spreading betwixt people?
Even if much of the girl’s 12 contacts trial positive, this doesn’t mean the virus has evolved to dispersed easy betwixt people. Her begetter and immoderate different cases could person caught the microorganism straight from infected birds, says Wendy Barclay astatine Imperial College London. “If she’s had interaction with backyard poultry, there’s a accidental that friends she played with person besides had interaction [with the birds],” she says.
Should we expect much cases?
Since 2021, vertebrate flu has been surging successful chaotic vertebrate populations and spreading to home poultry flocks and occasionally different animals, specified arsenic foxes and seals, which devour birds. That raises the likelihood of the microorganism crossing implicit to people, says James Wood astatine the University of Cambridge. “We expect determination to beryllium immoderate cases of [human] illness with specified a wide infection,” Wood said successful a connection to the Science Media Centre successful the UK.
How deadly is vertebrate flu successful people?
Over the past 20 years, determination person been astir 900 known cases of quality corruption with assorted strains of H5N1, of which astir fractional were fatal. But the decease complaint whitethorn look higher than it truly is due to the fact that determination are apt to beryllium galore cases wherever radical didn’t make symptoms oregon weren’t tested for the virus, says Barclay. There is present thought to beryllium astir 30 antithetic familial variants of H5N1 viruses circulating successful birds, which astir apt disagree successful their quality to marque radical sick.
Has vaccine accumulation begun?
Mass accumulation of a vertebrate flu vaccine cannot statesman due to the fact that we don’t yet cognize which variant, if any, could marque the leap to commencement freely spreading betwixt people. The effectiveness of flu vaccines hinges connected making them from viruses that are arsenic adjacent a lucifer arsenic imaginable to the 1 that radical yet catch.
Manufacturers are astir to commencement making the accustomed seasonal vaccines up of the bluish hemisphere’s winter. If they were to power to making H5N1 vaccines prematurely, that would hazard not capable seasonal flu vaccines being disposable aboriginal this year. “Seasonal vaccine is precise important successful redeeming lives,” Sylvie Briand astatine the World Health Organization (WHO) said astatine a property league this week. “You request to equilibrium the risks and benefits erstwhile you speech astir switching vaccines.”
But manufacturers routinely transportation retired preparatory enactment utilizing “candidate vaccine viruses” and the WHO has asked them to bash this utilizing a enactment of the H5N1 viruses, the organisation announced this week.
Are determination immoderate treatments?
There are respective antiviral treatments for seasonal flu, specified arsenic oseltamivir (Tamiflu), which has been utilized arsenic a attraction arsenic good arsenic a preventative medicine among the adjacent contacts of radical known to person vertebrate flu.
In a fewer cases, the H5N1 microorganism evolved resistance to oseltamivir, though this seemed to beryllium linked with the microorganism besides becoming little virulent and little transmissible. At the property conference, the WHO said it has been successful talks with manufacturers of antivirals astir however rapidly they could standard up production.
What happens if vertebrate flu does commencement spreading betwixt people?
Briand has said that if human-to-human transmission were discovered, wellness authorities would effort to forestall further crossover events from animals to people, arsenic good arsenic aiming to halt the virus’s dispersed betwixt people. This would beryllium “by treating cases, isolating cases truthful that they don’t further transmit the microorganism and besides identifying contacts”, she said. “We tin usage antivirals to dainty contacts for post-exposure prophylaxis and trim the likelihood of further quality transmission.”
The WHO would besides effort to hole neighbouring areas for further dispersed utilizing aggravated surveillance of viruses, informing communities astir however to trim their hazard of corruption and helping healthcare workers debar corruption with protective equipment.
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