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CDC: Consider H5N1 in severe respiratory disease with recent exposure
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The CDC has issued a health advisory reminding physicians about the symptoms of influenza A(H5N1), urging them to consider the possibility of the infection among recent travelers presenting with severe respiratory illness.
The health advisory comes soon after the report of the first confirmed case of H5N1 in North America. The Public Health Agency of Canada reported the case, which was in a patient who had recently traveled to Beijing. The patient was hospitalized Jan. 1 and died Jan. 3.
The clinical presentation of H5N1 varies, the CDC said, but most reports have described severe illness, including fulminant pneumonia, that has led to respiratory failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome and death. Other potential complications of H5N1 include encephalitis, septic shock and multi-organ failure.
The CDC urges state health departments to investigate potential human cases of H5N1 and notify the agency within 24 hours of identifying a probable or confirmed case. Patients meeting clinical and exposure criteria should be tested for H5N1. Clinical illness criteria include new-onset severe acute respiratory illness requiring hospitalization. Exposure criteria include travel within 10 days of illness onset to areas with known human cases of H5N1 or where H5N1 is known to circulate in animals, recent close contact with a suspected or confirmed case of H5N1 or unprotected exposure to H5N1 in a laboratory setting.
Patients with suspected H5N1 infection should receive empiric treatment with oseltamivir (Tamiflu, Genentech) as soon as possible.