Hong Kong BF ? - Event Date: June 13 2006

Yan Chai Hospital vomiting & diarrhoea cases
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A Yan Chai Hospital (YCH) spokesperson made the following announcement today (June 13):

     Five patients (aged 54 to 91) and two staff members of a female surgical ward have presented with vomiting and diarrhoea symptoms since June 8. The patients are in a stable condition and they have been transferred to isolation rooms for further management. The staff are now on sick leave. The hospital has arranged appropriate tests for the patients concerned and the results are pending.

     Admission to this ward has been suspended while visiting arrangements remains normal. Infection control measures have been stepped up in the ward concerned. All patients are under close surveillance.

     The YCH Infection Control Team has reported the cases to the Hospital Authority and the Centre for Health Protection.

Ends/Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Issued at HKT 18:59

Notification of a suspected human avian flu case in Shenzhen received
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    The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today (June 13) received notification from the Health Department of Guangdong Province and Ministry of Health concerning a suspected human case of avian influenza H5N1 in Shenzhen.

     A CHP spokesman said the patient was a 31-year-old man who lived in Shenzhen. He developed fever and pneumonia on June 3.  He is now under treatment in a local hospital.  His condition is critical.

     It was reported that the patient had visited a local wet market where live chickens were on sale.  

     The CHP is maintaining close liaison with the Ministry of Health and the Health Department of Guangdong Province to obtain more information on the case.

     Even though Hong Kong has been free from human avian influenza case since early 2003, members of the public should be vigilant given the large volume of population flow between Guangdong and Hong Kong.

     The spokesman said the department¡¦s Port Health Office has remained vigilant and maintained temperature screening for inbound travellers at all immigration control points. Health education for travellers will be enhanced at all immigration control points through distribution of leaflets and displaying of health messages.

     The Centre for Food Safety of Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will also step up inspection on the health and hygiene conditions of the chickens imported from the Mainland.
The spokesman reminded members of the public to remain vigilant against avian influenza infection and to observe the following measures:

* Avoid direct contact with poultry and birds or their droppings; if contacts have been made, they should wash hands thoroughly with soap and water;
* Poultry and eggs should be thoroughly cooked before eating;
* Wash hands frequently;
* Cover nose and mouth while sneezing or coughing, hold the spit with tissue and put it into covered dustbins;
* Avoid crowded places and contact with sick people with fever;
* Wear a mask when you have respiratory symptoms or need to take care of patients with fever;
* When you have fever and influenza-like illnesses during a trip or when coming back to Hong Kong, you should consult doctors promptly and reveal your travel history.

     For further information on avian influenza, please visit the CHP website: http://www.chp.gov.hk.

Ends/Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Issued at HKT 19:30

NNNN

It looks like WHO has some updating to its list of cases (IE., COLDEA ROMANIA etc). And if the boobs at WHO would like me to come work for them feel free to contact me.  As folks here and I seem to be able to keep track of global outbreaks better than they can!

it has flown full circle from an intestinal flu in birds to a respiratory flu in pigs and humans (and other mammals) to an intestinal virus again in humans. 

First two gut reactions, it's too long for a stomach virus, could be food poisoning, or early symptoms of bird flu. Food poisoning should be easy to rule out quickly. If it's bird flu.............we need to watch this one very carefully...

Hi PonyGirl Do you have the link to the first article, or did I miss it?

Am very sorry for your troubles and to hear of your son's passing. Am glad you found this site. What was determined the cause of death if you dont mind me asking ?

There were similiar reports to this from HK issued in May. Am suspicious of a cluster here because of the surgical ward proximity closeness to patients.

 

We all have to be vigilant with our eyes and ears open. Have no faith that the UN, WHO or CDC are going to put pressure on Asia and these 3rd world countries. Am afraid they have been lying ALL ALONG. 

http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200606/13/P200606130235.htm

And also...where the heck is the media in all this ? Obviously they are not mandated to report news from other countries but am thinking there must be a few investigative journalists with a pulse still out there.

Jiang, a cargo truck driver, had no contacts with birds before the disease. However, his wife bought a live-slaughtered chicken from a local market two weeks ago, and cooked it for dinner for five family members, including Jiang.

None of the rest of Jiang's family showed similar symptoms. They and other close contacts are under medical observation.

The man would become China's 19th reported human case if he is confirmed as having the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.

seesthelight,

The staff are now on sick leave. The hospital has arranged appropriate tests for the patients concerned and the results are pending.


Why would the staff be on sick leave?  Are they affraid and sent home? Are they feeling ill and are also being tested?

It just seems like a strange statement.

My condolences.

My hope and prayer (which I am sure is echoed my many on this forum)
is that we can prevent this occurrence from being replicated worldwide.

    A United Christian Hospital (UCH) spokesperson made the following announcement today (June 14):

     Three patients (two male and one female, aged 71 to 84) of a medical ward have presented with vomiting and diarrhoea symptoms since June 7. The patients are in a stable condition and are subject to appropriate isolation precautions. The hospital has arranged appropriate tests for the patients concerned and the results are pending.

     Admission to this ward has been suspended while visiting arrangements remains normal. Infection control measures have been stepped up in the ward concerned. All patients are under close surveillance.

     UCH Infection Control Team has reported the cases to the Hospital Authority and the Centre for Health Protection.

Ends/Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Issued at HKT 19:14

Above is also a press release today from the HK govt. HONG KONG watch as there may be something going on over there.

could be Norovirus, as that can ravage institutions, like hospitals, cruise ships, nursing homes, etc.

Hong Kong people are encouraged to wash hands before and after visiting public hospitals and to put on masks when necessary.

 

 

Different poisoning would require diff tests. A lot of them take a stool sample for culture which a physician would request. A person would usually recover from mild foood poisoning in 2 - 5 days with fluids and antibiotics.

    For what it's worth, the Hong Kong response both to the stomach crud in the hospital and 1 case of bird flu does not seem unusual if you understand how Hong Kong treats public health matters.

They are, umm, obsessive. They have a public health system that makes the US look like Indonesia in comparison. Used to have a coworker who grew up there; among other things that he told me was that chewing gum required a doctor's prescription (because spitting chewing gum out could spread disease) and spitting on the sidewalk could get you jail time and possibly corporal punishment (caning!).

One case of bird flu? Yeah, they're going to react rather aggressively and treat it as a public health emergency even if there's no sign of H2H. This would be the same island that completey killed every single chicken on the entire island in the late 90's when H5N1 first appeared. They GET bird flu and I'm sure they've got a few epidemiologists working very hard to identify the source.

As far as the stomach crud in the hospital goes -- there are quite a few infectious stomach "viruses" and a few bacteria that can be spread person to person. Noro's the most common, but everything from salmonella to typhus can be spread by contact. In a hospital, where you have very sick people, a stomach bug could kill.

Makes perfect sense to me to isolate the sick people so they can't spread it further & send the sick staff members home until they're no longer potentially infectious. (Besides, sending a sick staff member home -- they said there were two sick -- just makes sense from the standpoint of, it would probably upset the patients if a nurse puked on a patient's shoes.)

Leva

Does anyone think it is of particular concern that we have 2 separate hospitals in Hong Kong (Yan Chai and United Christian) both with a group of patients presenting possible BF symptoms and being isolated within a 24-hour period, or am I being over-nervous?

The annoucements on the Hospital Survallience Program and from the Secretary of Health Welfare and Food memos on the same day also.

that much I do know and the reports we got back post mortem indicated a virus like H5N1 due to cause of death signs/symptoms (Japan 2005)

Thanks Steve 101