JAPAN: Flu outbreak affects 101; 3 die in Tokyo hospital + CHINA: Third human case of confirmed H5N1

January 19, 2009

- Kimberly Dawley

Monday, January 19, 2009 1:24 PM

Flu outbreak affects 101; 3 die in Tokyo hospital

Sunday 18th January, 02:30 AM JST

TOKYO —

A total of 101 people have contracted influenza and three of them have died at a hospital in Machida, the Tokyo metropolitan government’s public health bureau said Saturday. The outbreak affected 77 inpatients and 24 hospital workers at Tsurukawa Sanatorium Hospital, according to the Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health, which has inspected the hospital and ordered it to take measures to halt a further spread.The hospital said a female worker was found infected on Jan 3 and the flu began spreading to patients in seven of its 11 wards around Jan 6. The three who died were all women, aged 77, 85 and 100, the hospital said. Sixty-eight of the 77 inpatients and 21 of the 24 workers have received vaccinations. Two of the three patients who died had also received vaccinations, according to the hospital. The hospital had 448 inpatients as of Saturday with an average age of 83, it said.The National Institute of Infectious Diseases issued a warning of a flu epidemic in December. http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/flu-outbreak-affects-101-3-die-in-tokyo-hospital

Fatal H5N1 Case in Shandong China Increases Concerns Recombinomics Commentary 15:46January 18, 2009

The 27-year-old woman surnamed Zhang, from Jinan, capital of China's eastern Shandong province, died on Saturday after falling ill on Jan. 5The above comments describe the third confirmed H5N1 case in China this month (see updated map). This case is in addition to the fatality in Beijing (19F) and the critical case originating in Hunan (2F) and all three follow confirmation of two bird outbreaks in Jiangsu last month. The outbreaks in Jiangsu involved asymptomatic poultry infected with clade 7, a clade that is significantly different than the clade 1 and clade 2 targets of avian and human vaccines, raising concerns that clade 7 is silently spreading in China and cause fatal infections this month.

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01180902/H5N1_Jinan.html