According to the World Health Organization (WHO) two more humans have died of H5N1 infection, bringing the total number of human deaths to 48. One is a 4-year-old girl from Makassar, South Sulawesi Province. Authorities say the girl developed bird flu like symptoms on June 18th, 2006, was hospitalized on June 23rd and died the following day. The girl had had contact with chickens near her home.
There are two other cases, one fatal and the other not, that date back to June and November, 2005, after a recent revision of case definitions for H5N1 infection. One was an 8-year-old girl from Tangerang, Banten Province, who became ill on June 24th, 2005 and died on July 14th, 2005 – she was part of a family cluster. The other was a 45-year-old man from Magelang, Central Java Province, who became ill on November 25th, 2005, and subsequently recovered.
WHO says after the recent revision of case definitions, its figures for Indonesia now tally with those of the Indonesian Ministry of Health.
63 humans have been infected with H5N1 in Indonesia, of which 48 (76%) have died.
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today