The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday confirmed a human case of bird flu in India, second ever in the country with a four-year-old in West Bengal catching the infection which is caused by H9N2 virus.
WHO said that the child, who was infected in March, recovered and was discharged from hospital in May, adding that the child was admitted to the paediatric ICU of a government hospital in the state on March 3 he experienced persistent severe respiratory issues.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday confirmed a human case of bird flu in India, second ever in the country with a four-year-old in West Bengal catching the infection which is caused by H9N2 virus.
The first case of bird flu in India was reported back in 2019.
WHO said that the child, who was infected in March, recovered and was discharged from hospital in May, adding that the child was admitted to the paediatric ICU of a government hospital in the state on March 3 he experienced persistent severe respiratory issues. Two days later, the test samples of the child confirmed bird flu infection.
"The case, previously diagnosed with hyperreactive airway disease, initially presented to the paediatrician with fever and abdominal pain on 26 January 2024. On 29 January, the patient developed seizures and was brought to the same paediatrician. On 1 February, the patient was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) of a local hospital due to the persistence of severe respiratory distress, recurrent high-grade fever and abdominal cramps," WHO said.
"The patient was diagnosed with post-infectious bronchiolitis caused by viral pneumonia. On 2 February, the patient tested positive for influenza B and adenovirus at the Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory at the local government hospital. The patient was discharged from the hospital on 28 February 2024," WHO added.
"On 3 March, with a recurrence of severe respiratory distress, he was referred to another government hospital and was admitted to the pediatric ICU and intubated. On 5 March, a nasopharyngeal swab was sent to the Kolkata Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory and tested positive for influenza A (not sub-typed) and rhinovirus. The same sample was sent to the National Influenza Centre at the National Institute of Virology in Pune for subtyping. On 26 April, the sample was sub-typed as influenza A(H9N2) through a real-time polymerase chain reaction," WHO said.
On 1 May, the patient was discharged from the hospital with oxygen support, the health body said, adding that information on the vaccination status and details of antiviral treatment were not available at the time of reporting.
The patient had exposure to poultry at home and in the surroundings, WHO said.