Patients on the mend, but another woman tests positive<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Some patients displaying bird flu symptoms at the Sulianti Saroso
\nInfectious Diseases Hospital in North Jakarta were improving, but
\nanother woman was declared to have tested positive for the virus
\non Saturday.<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old woman from Bekasi, West Java, was admitted to
\nthe hospital on Thursday after previously showing bird flu
\nsymptoms. A nephew of the woman said his aunt kept more than a
\ndozen chickens at her home and all had died suddenly.<\/p>\n
\"The test result shows that it's bird flu,\" said the Ministry
\nof Health's director general of disease control, I Nyoman Kandun,
\nas quoted by news portal detik.com on Saturday.<\/p>\n
He said that the woman and two other patients who had been
\nconfirmed as suffering from bird flu were now being treated at
\nthe Sulianti Saroso Hospital.<\/p>\n
Over the past three months, four people have died of bird flu.
\nEarlier this week, a 5-year-old girl who was suspected of
\nsuffering from bird flu died at the Sulianti Saroso Hospital, but
\nauthorities are still waiting for confirmation from the World
\nHealth Organization's laboratory in Hong Kong that she died of
\nbird flu.<\/p>\n
Sulianti Saroso is one of 44 hospitals nationwide that have
\nbeen designated to treat bird flu patients as the government
\nstepped up the fight against the virus following an increase in
\nthe number of victims.<\/p>\n
But hospital deputy director Sardikin Giri Putro said that
\nsome patients who had earlier been displaying bird flu symptoms
\nwere now improving. The hospital is currently treating some 19
\npatients with bird flu symptoms.<\/p>\n
\"Generally, their conditions is improving, except for one
\nperson. Unless further tests show otherwise, at least four of
\nthem can be discharged today,\" Sardikin was quoted as saying by
\nAFP on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Sardikin said two people who visited Jakarta's Ranggunan Zoo
\nwhere many birds have been found to be infected with the virus,
\nwere admitted to the hospital on Friday night and Saturday
\nmorning.<\/p>\n
The H5N1 bird flu strain has killed 63 people in Southeast
\nAsia since 2003, the majority of them in Vietnam.<\/p>\n
The WHO's biggest fear is that H5N1 may mutate, acquiring
\ngenes from the human influenza virus that would make it highly
\ninfectious and lethal to millions in a global pandemic.<\/p>\n
But the WHO in Geneva has urged calm, saying investigations in
\nIndonesia had produced no evidence that H5N1 was spreading easily
\nfrom person to person.<\/p>\n
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday urged the culling
\nof birds in infected areas but warned against overstating the
\nthreat.<\/p>\n
Foreign donors on Friday promised to help the government in
\nits battle against bird flu after the United Nations warned of a
\nworrying situation and urged the country to improve its virus
\ncontrol policies.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/patients-on-the-mend-but-another-woman-tests-positive-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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