Thanks to the reader who tipped me off to this Jakarta Post story: Family regrets late bird flu results. Read the whole article carefully. It points out actions that must be explicable only in terms of Indonesian culture—both the general culture and that of its healthcare workers. Excerpt:
The South Sulawesi governor and the family of the latest confirmed bird flu victim expressed regret Friday that the Health Ministry did not immediately disclose the cause of the 14-year-old's death.
Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said Thursday the government had confirmed the girl, who passed away almost three months ago, was the 48th fatality from the virus.
"Why was the announcement made almost three months later? If we had known earlier, we could have taken the necessary steps immediately," Governor Amin Syam said in Makassar on Friday.
The victim's brother, Alimin, said his family had been shocked to learn the girl died of bird flu.
"It has really shaken us, to hear such news just as we were coming to terms with her death."
Alimin said the family knew that bird flu in humans caused symptoms like the girl's, including a high fever, chest pains and shortness of breath. However, her doctor had diagnosed dengue fever.
"But our suspicion caused us to free all our chickens and pet birds and destroy the coop and cages immediately after her funeral."
I wonder if this is a mistranslation, or if the family really did let its birds and poultry wander off. If so, it's a baffling response.
The story goes on to say that the girl's mother and older sister died not long before she did, and several other family members had been hospitalized before recovering. All had been diagnosed as having dengue fever.
If I were a senior official in Indonesia's health ministry, I would organize a project to re-examine every dengue case in the country since 2003. I would also offer seminars for healthcare workers in every hospital and clinic on dengue and H5N1 symptoms.
I would also be in touch with my Vietnamese and Chinese counterparts, asking about the recent dengue outbreaks in those countries, and the possibility that H5N1 cases had been misdiagnosed as dengue.
