Avian influenza

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Bird flu; H5N1

Treatment with the antiviral medication oseltamivir (Tamiflu), and perhaps zanamivir (Relenza), may decrease the severity of the disease, if started within 48 hours after symptoms begin. Oseltamivir may also be prescribed for household contacts of people diagnosed with avian flu. Samples of H5N1 from human infections proved resistant to the antiviral medications amantadine and rimantadine. Therefore these medications cannot be used if an H5N1 outbreak occurs.

People with severe infection may need breathing assistance with mechanical ventilation. It is currently recommended that people diagnosed with H5N1 infection be put in isolation.

Because different types of avian flu virus may cause different symptoms, treatment may vary.

Currently, there is no available vaccine against avian influenza. However, a vaccine against H5N1 is being tested in clinical trials.

Doctors recommend that people get an influenza (flu) shot to reduce the chance of an avian flu virus mixing with a human flu virus, which would create a new virus that may easily spread.

Prognosis depends on the severity of infection and the type of avian influenza virus that caused it. The current death rate for patients with confirmed H5N1 infection is more than 50%. The H7N7 avian flu outbreak in the Netherlands resulted in 89 confirmed human cases but only one death. An avian flu virus designates H9N2 infected 3 children in Asia; all three recovered.

Pneumonia  and acute respiratory distress are seen with H5N1 infections. Infection with this virus may also lead to sepsis and organ failure.

Call your health care provider if you develop flu-like symptoms within 10 days of handling infected birds or traveling to an area with a known avian flu outbreak.

Review Date: 02/08/2006
Reviewed By: Cyrus Badshah, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University; Assistant Attending Physician, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Harlem Hospital Center. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.