All Hospitalized Flu Patients Should Get Bird-Flu Tests: CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people who are hospitalized with influenza should also be checked for the bird flu strain that has been spreading through the country. The new guidance comes as the federal government is seeing more cases and intensifying its preparations for a potential pandemic.
The CDC previously said flu patients who had been exposed to sick animals should be tested immediately for the H5N1 bird flu strain, but expanded the guidance after a five-year-old in San Francisco tested positive despite no known exposure to infected animals. The child has recovered.
CDC officials are starting to see more cases without any identified exposure to sick animals, CDC Principal Deputy Director Dr. Nirav Shah told reporters. The current practice of testing batches of samples from hospitalized flu patients for bird flu is too slow, Shah said.
