Influenza

H7N9 case has drug- and non-resistant strains

The only H7N9 patient so far in Taiwan was carrying two strains of the same virus, with one being drug resistant and the other not, making it tricky to treat to him, doctors said

Your Health,

19 May, 2013

Huang Li-min, a doctor from National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), explained that it was possible the avian flu virus was not drug resistant when the patient was first infected, but mutated later to become resistant to Tamiflu.

With Tamiflu failing, NTUH later switched to another intravenous drug, Huang said. Because of the presence of the two strains simultaneously, it was difficult for doctors to determine how much the virus' drug resistance had undermined the therapy.

Chou Chi-hao, deputy director-general of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), said it is natural for viruses to mutate, saying the H1N1 flu strain mutated after infecting human beings.

But Huang said H7N9 has limited chances of human-to-human transmission through respiratory secretions because the virus has difficulty surviving the environments of human upper respiratory systems. Patients do not have symptoms of a runny nose or sneezing.

The patient, surnamed Lee, got sick on April 12, three days after returning from a business trip in China. His condition was initially critical, but has improved much. He has already been transferred from the intensive care unit to an ordinary ward at NTUH.

The findings by the NTUH and CDC about H7N9 are to be published in a local medical journal next month.

New SARS-Like Coronavirus Suspected at New York Hospital

Marketwire,

18 May, 2013

LONG BEACH, CA--(Marketwired - May 18, 2013) - AvianFluTalk.com, an online discussion forum created in 2005 to track the potential threat of an avian flu pandemic, has been the venue for a serious discussion regarding the new SARS-like coronavirus infecting patients at a New York Hospital leaving several in critical condition and resulting in 3 deaths.

The new SARS-like coronavirus recently emerged in the Middle East infecting 41 total worldwide resulting in 20 deaths and is primarily spread by limited human-to-human transmission. Experts fear that the virus' early ability to transmit among humans could spark a global pandemic should the virus mutate further and achieve sustained human transmission.

Nurses working at a St. Luke's hospital in New York have claimed that there are several cases of the new SARS-like virus in the hospital's ICU, which have gone misdiagnosed and that are in fact the new deadly virus.

A nurse who works at the hospital believes there is a potential outbreak of this new SARS-like virus and she too has now been hospitalized with flu-like symptoms. Although hospital administrators have made no comment about this matter, posters on the online message board at avianflutalk.com have indicated through research that it is influenza B. The nurses are disputing that claim stating that in fact the new coronavirus is the culprit.

The nurses feel that they have an obligation to speak-out about their suspicions in this matter.

To follow this rapidly developing story, visit the online discussion forum's latest news section atwww.avianflutalk.com.