Flu patient develops meningitis

"The virus has destroyed many areas in his brain," Dr Tawee Chotepitayasunon, head of the Public Health Ministry's influenza academic team, said yesterday.

The boy appeared convulsive on the day he was admitted to Children's Hospital last week and was given the antiviral drug oseltamivir, Tawee said.

The boy is now free of the viral infection, but the membranes enveloping his brain remain inflamed.

The condition can rapidly progress to permanent brain damage, neurological problems or even death.

The boy now is in a critical condition and being kept in a disinfected unit but can breath without the help of a respirator.

Inflammation of brain membranes in patients with the new flu virus can also occur in patients with seasonal flu, but this is rare.

Medical Service Department director-general Dr Rewat Wisarutwej said the type-A (H1N1) virus generally spread to the lungs and caused pneumonia but that there was a possibility it could infect the brain.

Tawee cited US records that only four type-A (H1N1) patients had been reported there as also suffering from meningitis.

He urged doctors to watch patients closely, especially children with convulsive conditions, as they might be infected with the new flu virus.

"Doctors should consider providing influenza diagnostic tests for patients with convulsive conditions and high fever, because they could also be have flulike symptoms from the outbreak of the new (H1N1) strain," he said.

People experiencing high fever for two or three days should seek medical treatment at a hospital immediately, he said.

A 20-year old woman was under close observation yesterday in a Bangkok hospital with two risk factors. She is now 12 weeks pregnant and suffering from pre-existing medical conditions, including thalassemia. She was pale and fatigued but had a lower fever.

"We believe if her medical condition is sustained, her baby will be safe," Rewat said.

The ministry is now reporting 10 fatalities and 156 new cases, of which 82 per cent are students. Of the total of 2,428 victims, 2,381 have recovered, and only 38 remain hospitalised.