Extensive H5N1 Human To Human Transmission In Indonesia?

Recombinomics Commentary
October 21, 2005

"Petersen said preliminary tests showed they had influenza, but the type was unclear. The Health Ministry said it might announce test results later on Friday.

"'What we know is that from one clear case in Thailand and probably in other cases there has been close family contact and this is why it could have gone from one person to another,' Petersen said.

"'It's not what we call extensive human-to-human transmission ... It doesn't mean mutation.'

"The above comments are in reference to a father and son who were admitted on Wednesday to Sulianti Saroso hospital in Jakarta. The son had handled a neighbor's sick poultry, but his father had not had contact with poultry. Thus, when both were admitted with bird flu symptoms, concern was expressed regarding human-to-human transmission associated with mutation. Since both now have pneumonia and evidence of influenza infection, it likely that the son infected his father with H5N1 bird flu.

"However, these familial clusters are not new and although WHO has been slow to acknowledged the fact, the vast majority of the familial clusters involver human-to-human transmission. Now WHO is using a new term, called extensive human-to-human transmission. Since WHO has maintained that the 2005 flu pandemic is a phase 3, which involves only rare human-to-human transmission, the focus on extensive human-to-human transmission may also be an admission that the pandemic has progressed beyond phase 3. When the transmission is sustained, the pandemic has reached the final phase, which is phase 6.

"The latest familial clusters will likely be confirmed for both father and son, since they both have tested positive for influenza. This new cluster, however, will add to the evidence that there has been extensive human-to-human transmission. The extent of the human to human transmission can be measured by the frequency of confirmed cases that belong to clusters." Click the title to read the article.

With the onset of a possible bird flu pandemic, read Diseases & Impaired Immunity to find out if your own immune system is already compromised. Read more to learn how you can help yourself while waiting for the right vaccine to come along.

GET THIS FREE REPORT! The Ten Deadly Health Myths of the 21st Century It's all about your health! TOP NEWS STORIES ...LATEST HEALTH NEWS