Encephalitis affects bird flu victim in Indonesia

Bird flu patient has encephalitis

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

A 67-year-old woman from Cisarua in Lembang, West Java was tested positive for bird flu Wednesday and is likely to be the country's first victim to suffer from brain inflammation due to the virus.

Head of the West Java Health Office, Yudi Prayudha, said Wednesday that he received confirmation of the woman's tests through a text message from a staff member of the Health Ministry's research and development laboratory in Jakarta, who said the results were confirmed after the third test.

"SM, 67, female, is currently being treated at Hasan Sadikin hospital in Bandung. The third sample shows she is bird flu positive," Yudi said, quoting the text message he received.

The woman's case is unique, as it is the first time in the country that the H5N1 virus has been reported to have caused encephalitis, or the inflammation of the brain. A similar condition was reported to have caused the deaths of two siblings in south Vietnam in 2004.

Yudi said that based on preliminary information from the hospital, the bird flu patient has been placed in isolation after suffering a fever for two days following the sudden death of her chickens.

When she was first admitted to the hospital Saturday afternoon, she was in poor health, suffering from a high fever, breathing problems and a loss of consciousness.

However, the hospital's team of doctors, led by Hadi Jusuf, did not find indications that her loss of consciousness was due to acute respiratory distress or pneumonia like other bird flu patients treated at the hospital.

"There's a strong indication that the virus has entered the victim's brain membrane. A sample of fluid from her spinal cord has been taken to confirm the nature of the virus," Yudi said.

Hadi Yusuf said the first test was negative but the lab then conducted the tests five times. The tests included serology tests as well as swabs from her throat and lungs and cerebrospinal fluid from her spinal cord.

"If the tests show she is infected with H5N1, then this will be the first reported Avian Influenza case that has caused brain inflammation in the country," Hadi told The Jakarta Post.

He admitted, however, he had not received an official report from the Health Ministry's laboratory.

Examinations by the hospital's neurology team, he said, has shown that MK is suffering from brain inflammation caused by a virus.

The patient was still in poor health Wednesday although it seemed like she had started regaining consciousness after briefly moving her hand.

Yudi asked people to remain calm about the latest bird flu development. "It's very rare that H5N1 causes brain inflammation, so there's no need to worry. Just follow instructions to prevent Avian Influenza infection," he said.

According to the Health Ministry, a total of 69 people have contracted bird flu across the country. Of those, 52 have died. West Java has so far recorded the highest number of fatalities. MK is the province's 24th bird flu victim, of which 17 have died.

The H5N1 virus made the first known jump to humans in Hong Kong in 1997, infecting 18 people and killing six of them.