Bekasi H5N1 Fatalities Raise Indonesian Concerns
Recombinomics Commentary 13:03
March 5, 2009
The two victims, according to Yonti, in confirmation status. He then explains that the status is (based on the danger) is one level above the status of suspect and also one level below the positive bird flu.
The above translation describes recent Bekasi H5N1 cases who died at the Friendship hospital. These two cases are about 2 miles apart (see updated map) in densely populated areas of Bekasi. One (N or 5M in WHO update) is a WHO confirmed case who died January 2 as indicated in the January 22, WHO update.
The more recent case (42F), who died February 24 may have been the fatal Bekasi case described in yesterday’s MOH update. However, on February 11, a UNICEF media report indicated the number of fatal cases in Indonesia was 119, signaling four new cases. Three of those four matched the description of the cases announced yesterday by the MOH, and classifying this latest case in Bekasi to the fourth case announced yesterday leaves open the question of who the fourth case was in the UNICEF announcement.
This confusion is compounded by the delay in announcement by the Indonesian MOH, as well as the associated delays in WHO Indonesian updates. The last WHO update was in January, and describes a case who died in Tangerang in December, as well as the Bekasi case above. Since that update, there was the UNICEF report of February 11 signaling four newly confirmed cases, as well as the MOH announcement yesterday, which also signaled four newly confirmed cases. However, most of the announced cases died in January, and the two reports do not match.
Moreover, not included in either report are the recent cases, described in media reports, in Bekasi, Depok, Tangerang, and South Jakarta.
The large number of fatal H5N1 in and around Jakarta, as well as delays in reporting these cases, continue to cause concerns.
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