By Simeon Bennett -
Jun 23, 2013
The H7N9 strain of bird flu that has
killed 38 people in China since March is less deadly than had
been supposed, according to the most detailed analysis of the
outbreak so far.
The risk of death for patients admitted to a hospital with
H7N9 infection is about 36 percent, researchers at the Chinese
Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of
Hong Kong wrote in The Lancet medical journal today. While
initial reports of severe illness among most patients suggested
the virus may be highly lethal, as many as about 27,000
undetected mild cases may have occurred, lowering the risk, the
study said.
Still, H7N9 is only about half as deadly as the H5N1 bird
flu strain that has killed about 60 percent of the 630 people
it’s infected since 2003, the researchers wrote. The new virus,
which has subsided with the onset of warmer weather and the
closure of live bird markets in China, may rebound this year if
it follows a similar pattern to H5N1, they said in a separate
study.
Continued: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-23/new-bird-flu-found-to-be-deadlier-than-first-estimated.html
No comments:
Post a Comment