H5N1 deformed in Egypt

In a WHO statement, the impact on the public health of this issue is only 'limited' but that does not change the preparation for the risk of a deadly flu pandemic.

The WHO said it found that the virus has a genetic modification that partially reduces the effectiveness of oseltamivir (the generic name of Tamilflu) in two Egyptians. A 16-year-old girl and a 26-year-old uncle in Gharbiyah province, northwestern Egypt, died in hospital on 25 and 28 December, a few days after being treated with Tamiflu.

WHO said the deformation called 294S was also found in a case saved in Vietnam in 2005. But the WHO said at this time there was no sign of oseltamivir being ignored in Egypt and places. other. The WHO statement also did not change the currently applied therapies for treating people with H5N1.

Egypt

Two people died in H5N1 in Egypt (Photo: AFP) Two patients who died in December were a 26-year-old man, a worker, and a 16-year-old grandchild, living in Gharbia in the Nile Delta. His older sister, 35, was also infected and died, not knowing if it was because of the mutated virus. Three people who previously contacted ducks died of influenza. Two uncle died in the second hospital after a period of treatment that was not as effective as Tamiflu at another hospital.

On January 18, Egyptian authorities said they were treating another patient. So far 10 people have died out of 19 cases of bird flu in Egypt.

Worldwide, 161 people were killed in 267 cases known since 2003. People often get H5N1 from dead birds although cases of human-to-human transmission have occurred but are rare.

Scientists fear that the virus changes into a type that can easily spread from person to person and cause a pandemic that can kill millions of people.