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Toddler confirmed to have died of bird flu

Blood samples taken from two-and-a-half-year-old Wahyu Ibnu Saputra, who died last week in Pekanbaru, Riau, have tested positive for the bird flu virus, an official said on Wednesday

Rizal Harahap (The Jakarta Post)
Pekanbaru
Thu, April 2, 2009

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Toddler confirmed to have died of bird flu

B

lood samples taken from two-and-a-half-year-old Wahyu Ibnu Saputra, who died last week in Pekanbaru, Riau, have tested positive for the bird flu virus, an official said on Wednesday.

Azizman Saad, coordinator of the bird flu prevention team at the Arifin Ahmad hospital in Pekanbaru, said confirmation that Wahyu died from bird flu had been received by the Riau Health Office several days ago.

"The victim is believed to have contracted the virus from dead chickens in his surrounding areas," Azizman told The Jakarta Post.

Indonesia's bird flu death reached 119 as of early this month, according to data from the national bird flu commission. Blood samples of patients believed to have been infected with the virus are usually sent to the Health Research Agency of the Ministry of Health in Jakarta.

Following the confirmation, Azizman urged Wahyu's family members and neighbors in Tanjung Rhu village, Pekanbaru to go to the nearest community health center to have a check-up. "There has not been any evidence that the bird flu infection can be transmitted from human to human, but the case shows the bird flu outbreak took place in the victim's area. It's better for those who had made contact with the victim to go to the health center even though they do not have any health problems," he said.

Azizman explained that Wahyu was intensively treated for high fever and coughing and breathing difficulties in an isolated room at Arifin Achmad hospital.

"One day before he died, his condition was improving but, finally, his condition dropped and he fell unconscious. Six doctors tried to save his life, but to no avail," he said.

Azizman explained that before the disclosure of the laboratory tests Wahyu was believed to have died from multi-organ failure.

Rini Hermiyati of the Pekanbaru Health Office said she had assigned a team to observe the health condition of the victim's family members and at the same time make an inventory of neighbors who were in contact with the victim.

"No one has been found with symptoms of bird flu, but those having contact with the victims will be closely watched out for 21 days," Rini said.

The Pekanbaru Livestock Husbandry Office made the decision to cull chickens in the victim's surrounding areas to help curb the spread of the virus. "The number of chickens raised here is small," she said.

Meanwhile, Susi Herlinda, a member of the Pekanbaru Legislative Council, criticized the administration for its failure to anticipate the bird flu infection. The death of the victim showed the administration was not aggressive enough in campaign about the danger of bird flu, she said.

"It has become a habit of our people, everybody acts only after somebody falls victim to a certain diseases. The death of Wahyu should have been used as momentum to improve," she said.

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