Mardon 1 Emily Mardon 003948619 HSCI 359 The Bird Flu

Any new emerging influenza is always a threat to the public. H7N9 influenza, also known as Bird Flu is the newest virus infection that has been reported since the beginning of 2013 (Wiwanitkit 1.) The start of this new disease occurred in China and has a chance of becoming a worldwide pandemic (Wiwanitkit 1.) This article discusses the symptoms of the flu, the diagnosis, the treatment, the prevention, and gives a study on the epidemiology of the new influenza infection. Influenza virus infection is a common respiratory pathogen (Wiwanitkit 1.) These viruses are proved to the causes of respiratory tract infections in humans and animals (Wiwanitkit 1.) The flu in humans generally has a wide rage of epidemic areas and can be seen around the world. Any new atypical influenza virus can be the causes of the disease that becomes a worldwide pandemic (Wiwanitkit 1.) The Bird Flu had a previous big outbreak due to the H5N1 influenza virus. It was a serious concern to the public (Wiwanitkit 1.) Since the emerging infection is so new, there is little information regarding history of this disease. Due to this, treatment methods and diagnosis options are difficult to obtain. The first case of the Bird Flu was an 87-year old man from Shanghai China. Many other cases were reported including some that ended up in death. This disease even emerged into Taiwan and that is when the concern of a worldwide pandemic set in (

Mardon 2 Wiwanitkit 2.) The H7N9 influenza infection can occur in all age groups and both sexes. Specifically for the outbreak in China, most of the 82 infected patients were adult and the ages raged from 2-89, leaving the median age at 63 (Wiwanitkit 2.) 73% of the patients were males and 84% were urban residents (Wiwanitkit 2.) The main symptoms of this virus are fever and rapidly progressive pneumonia, which did not respond to antibiotics (Wiwanitkit 2.) Pneumonia can lead to tachypnea, hypoxemia, and respiratory difficulty (Wiwanitkit 2.) In worst-case scenarios, respiratory distress can lead to death. However, not all cases were this serious and did not require hospitalization. In addition to these complications, renal impairment, heart failure, eye manifestation, diarrhea, and other serious health issues came from the H7N9 influenza (Wiwanitkit 2.) The big question in this study is the relationship between the infection and avian contact. In previous strands of the Bird Flu, avian contact can be found in almost all of the patients (Wiwanitkit 2.) Since not all cases had the avian contact factor, human-tohuman transmission is also questionable. Since this virus is hard to diagnose, it needs laboratory support. If the patient has a high body temperature and has a history of avian exposure then they should be screened by an influenza rapid test (Wiwanitkit 2.) If the result is positive, antiviral drug treatments would be suggested and further confirmation tests should be done. (Wiwanitkit 2.) The treatment for all cases of the Bird Flu is an antiviral drug. This gets rid of the infection and controls the spreading of the disease (Wiwanitkit 3.) The drug of choice is Oseltamivir, and a standard dosage used for general influenza infections should be applied (Wiwanitkit 3.) For more serious cases regarding pneumonia and other symptoms other methods of treatment should be considered. To avoid contracting this

Mardon 3 virus you should stay away from infected avian. Other than that there is a slim chance that his influenza is transferred from human-to human contact. Overall, this article showed that the outbreak of the specific H7N9 influenza occurred in China. Most of the cases were in adults and not all were severe cases. The symptoms of this virus can range from something as simple as diarrhea to heart failure, kidney failure, and even death. Although it is not completely proven that this bird flu comes from avian contact, almost all the cases were exposed to birds. The ones that were not could have possibly contracted the virus in other ways. However, human-to-human contact is more than likely not the way of transmitting the infection. The only treatment so far is antiviral drugs regardless of how severe the case is. This influenza still has the possibility of becoming a worldwide pandemic, due to the evidence of it being spread from China to Taiwan.

Mardon 4 References Wiwanitkit, Viroj. Wiwanitkit House, Bangkhae, Bangkok, Thailand, 2013. H7N9 Influenza: The Emerging Infectious Disease. North American Journal of Medical Sciences: 395-398.