Two clustered cases of confirmed influenza A(H5N1) virus infection, Cambodia, 2011.

In February 2011, a mother and her child from Banteay Meanchey Province, Cambodia, were diagnosed, postmortem, with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus infection. A field investigation was conducted by teams from the Cambodian Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization and the Institut Pasteur in Cambodia. Nasopharyngeal, throat and serum specimens collected from 11 household or three neighbour contacts including two suspect cases tested negative by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for A(H5N1). Follow-up sera from the 11 household contacts also tested negative for A(H5N1) antibodies. Twenty-six HCW who were exposed to the cases without taking adequate personal protective measures self-monitored and none developed symptoms within the two following weeks. An unknown number of passengers travelling with the cases on a minibus while they were symptomatic could not be traced but no clusters of severe respiratory illnesses were detected through the Cambodian surveillance systems in the two weeks after that. The likely cause of the fatal infection in the mother and the child was common-source exposure in Preah Sdach District, Prey Veng Province. Human-to-human transmission of A(H5N1) virus was unlikely but genetic susceptibility is suspected. Clusters of A(H5N1) virus infection should be systematically investigated to rule out any human-to-human transmission.

Retrospective study of empyema cases in National Pediatric Hospital, Cambodia.

Majority of empyema cases admitted into the National Pediatric Hospital (NPH), Cambodia were of bacterial origin (EB: 95%), the rest were caused by tuberculosis bacilli (ETB: 5%). The morbidity of overall empyema, empyema of bacterial origin and empyema of TB origin between boys and girls was the same, even though boys were more likely to be exposed than girls. The mean age of patients with ETB was significantly greater than those of EB, 84.7 +/- 46 months versus 52.5 +/- 37 months. Since NPH is located in Phnom Penh, most of our cases were from Kandal, Phnom Penh, and provinces nearby. On average all of the patients stayed in the hospital for 23.26 +/- 14.9 days (rank 1-91 days), and the mean duration of hospitalization of the ETB patients was significantly longer than that of EB patients, 32 +/- 19 days versus 22 +/- 14 days respectirely. The yearly incidence of empyema cases in 1990-1993 had the trend of slightly increased frequency during March to May. The overall EB case fatality rate was 3%, contributed to by delayed referral of cases.