Human Flu Kills Two Infants, Sickens About 1,000 Children in Cambodia
Human flu kills two infants, sickens about 1,000 children in Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, July 1, (Xinhua) — Two infants have died from a rapidly spreading form of human influenza in Phnom Penh, while about 1,000 other children are crowding the capital’s hospitals with respiratory infections, according to a health official Friday.
Two boys, aged nine and 14 months old, died Thursday after suffering severe lung infections for two weeks, Ly Sovann, head of the Health Ministry’s infections disease department, confirmed to Xinhua.
The spread of influenza B, a human flu strain, has been described as an unprecedented epidemic by health officials, who are struggling to meet the demands of patients and their worried parents.
“But they (the two children) were already very serious when they arrived at the hospital in Phnom Penh,” Ly Sovann said, adding that “the number of sick children is more than last year, but the situation is still under control.”
He also said that the initial test results show it has nothing to do with the deadly H5N1 bird flu, which has killed four Cambodians since January, 2005. However, Ly Sovann appealed parents “to bring their children to the hospitals immediately when such symptoms turned up.”
In June, the National Pediatric Hospital alone received more than 500 children and was forced to place beds in the building’s corridors to respond to patients’ needs, according to local media.
Respiratory infections and flu are common throughout the world, and outbreaks are often seen in child-care centers and nursing homes of developed countries, World Health Organization epidemiologist Megge Miller told The Cambodia Daily on Thursday.
She said evidence indicates the flu outbreak has only plagued children so far in Cambodia.
Despite the commonality of flu, the outbreak that hit Cambodia in June came at an unexpected time, as the number of cases usually rises at the start of the rainy and dry seasons, Miller said, adding WHO officials will determine what caused the outbreak at this time of year.