Wednesday, June 06, 2012
The condition of a two-year-old boy who is seriously ill with bird flu and water on the brain has improved slightly.
The SAR-born boy, who resides in Guangzhou with his Hong Kong father and mainland mother, remains in a serious condition in the pediatric intensive care unit at Princess Margaret Hospital. But the pressure from his brain condition - obstructive hydrocephalus - has eased.
University of Hong Kong School of Public Health virology professor Malik Peiris has told The Standard that hydrocephalus is an "atypical" presentation of H5N1 infection. Patients with bird flu usually exhibit cough and fever.
H5N1 was not suspected when the boy was first admitted for five days at a general pediatric ward at Caritas Medical Centre. When diagnosed with H5N1, he was then transferred to Princess Margaret isolated and put on a regime of the antiviral drug Tamiflu.
Health minister York Chow Yat- ngok said although the boy may have been infected during a trip to a Guangzhou wet market with his mother between May 17 and 19, it cannot be ruled out that the source of infection was in Anhui.
But since the parents and other contacts have tested negative, Chow believes it to be an isolated case.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=123141&sid=36626261&con_type=1&d_str=20120606&fc=2
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