• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

Data shows most bird flu victims under 40

Infection Control Monitor, February 16, 2007

Ninety percent of the people infected with avian influenza were under the age of 40, according to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO). Of the 205 laboratory-confirmed cases occurring over the three-year period since WHO began recording human cases of avian flu, the H5N1 infection was fatal in 56% of those infected.

The median interval from onset of illness to hospitalization was four days, and the median duration from onset to death was nine days, according to the analysis by WHO researchers.

The researchers had no explanation of why bird flu seems to strike younger people. The organization plans to undertake a more in-depth analysis of the data at an international meeting in March. The data was contained in WHO's Weekly Epidemiological Record that analyzed all laboratory-confirmed human cases of H5N1 infection reported between late November 2003 and late November 2006.To read the report go to http://www.who.int/wer/2007/wer8206.pdf.

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive