Laidback Al, Senior Moderator, www.FluTrackers.com
January 1, 2012
Abstract – In 2011, 59 human cases of H5N1 were reported from around the world, a 23% increase over 2010. Five countries reported cases in 2011, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Egypt, and Indonesia. Almost half of the 59 cases (about 45%) were children under 10 years old. The fatality rate did not appreciably decline in 2011, about half of all the reported cases died. Four small family clusters were noted during the year. The source of exposure for all of the cluster cases has been reported as exposure to sick and dying poultry. None of these clusters resulted in sustained human to human transmission. Based on an analysis of the 2011 data, the potential for a virulent H5N1 pandemic has not diminished.
The big H5N1 news of 2011 was the bioethical debate surrounding the publication of the details of genetic research by two groups of scientists who were able to create a laboratory strain of H5N1 that maintained it virulence and was easily transmissible in aerosolized droplets. A few of the many media reports and commentaries are referenced in this FluTrackers thread. Equally as important, but without the accompanying media hype, is that there was a 23% increase in the number of worldwide H5N1 human cases over the number of cases in 2010. In 2011, at least 59 cases were recorded; in 2010 the total was only 48. The following summary of human cases from 2011 is generally organized according to the outlined presented last year in “A Summary of Human H5N1 Cases in 2010” (link).
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