The H5N1 virus can infect humans through the gastrointestinal tract, not just through respiratory routes, and diarrhea can sometimes be a symptom of avian influenza. This is a warning from microbiologist Menno De Jong, from the clinical research unit at the University of Oxford.
According to De Jong, who has studied 18 cases of avian influenza infections in Vietnam, in some cases, the only route of transmission was that the patients had consumed duck blood pudding. This indicates that the gastrointestinal tract can also be a transmission pathway or the primary route of infection. Preliminary tests in animals have shown similar results.
Expert De Jong asserts that if the avian influenza virus exists in the human body outside of the lungs, some antiviral medications currently used to treat avian influenza, such as Zanamivir nasal spray, may not be effective.
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| An Indonesian doctor treating an avian influenza patient in Jakarta (Indonesia). On May 9, the North Sumatra Health Department reported that five people from the same family in Karo district were suspected of having avian influenza, with one fatality (Photo: AFP) |
HIẾU TRUNG
