NEJM Details on First 3 Confirmed Cases of #H7N9 Outbreak

An excerpt from the New England Journal of Medicine Article that I posted here.  Bolding is mine.  I have updated the 3 cases mentioned below to reflect these findings.  My case list can be found on the right side-bar for reference.

Results

Patients

Patient 1 was an 87-year-old man with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and hypertension who reported a cough and sputum production at the onset of illness. High fever and dyspnea developed 1 week after the onset of illness. He had no known history of exposure to live birds during the 2 weeks before the onset of symptoms.

Patient 2 was a 27-year-old man with a history of hepatitis B virus infection with positive hepatitis B surface antigen who presented to the hospital with high fever and cough. This patient was a butcher who worked at a market where there were transactions involving live birds. He sold pork but had not butchered bird meat before the onset of illness. Both Patient 1 and Patient 2 lived in Min-hang District, Shanghai, and were admitted to the Fifth People's Hospital.

Patient 3 was a 35-year-old woman who lived in Anhui Province. She had a history of depression, hepatitis B virus infection, and obesity. Patient 3 also had high fever and cough at the onset of the illness. She had visited a chicken market 1 week before the onset of symptoms. The demographic and epidemiologic characteristics of the three patients are summarized in Table 1 

Table 1Demographic, Epidemiologic, and Virologic Characteristics and Complications, Treatment, and Clinical Outcomes of Three Patients Infected with Avian-Origin Influenza A (H7N9) Virus..