China's fifth patient contracted with human bird flu, a woman
surnamed Liu from the northeastern Liaoning Province, was back at
hospital Saturday for a thorough health checkup.
This is her first checkup after Liu was discharged from hospital
on November 29.
The No.1 Hospital affiliated to the China Medical University in
the provincial capital Shenyang conducted a CT (computerized
tomography) test and collected Liu's blood samples for a
comprehensive test of her immune system, including a chlamydial
antibody test.
The results of the tests will be available on Monday, so Liu
said she will spend the weekends in Shenyang.
Liu, wearing a red down-padded coat, was accompanied by her
husband Guo Jiujun, three-year-old daughter and Wang Dong, a local
government official from her hometown in Heishan County.
"She couldn't have recovered without the timely and effective
treatment," said Guo, who repeatedly thanked the doctors and
nurses.
Liu, 31, was a chicken farmer in Fangshan Town in Heishan
County, which was hit by the H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic bird
flu on November 3. The town was declared free from the epidemic on
December 1.
Liu got feverish on October 30 with 38 degrees Celsius of body
temperature. Then her condition worsened on November 3, with more
flu-like symptoms including coughs and shortness of breath. She
suffered from respiratory exhaustion on November 7, about one week
after falling sick.
With prompt, successful treatment, Liu was discharged as healthy
from hospital on November 29, after no flu symptoms had been
detected for 14 consecutive days.
Back home, the village doctor took her temperature twice a day,
each time normal.
"We feel her immunity has enhanced and a relapse of the disease
is unlikely," said Prof. Wang Qiuyue of the hospital's respiratory
diseases department.
Liu, who had been much sought after by the media over the past
month, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview Friday she felt well,
and just wanted to "live simply and undisturbed".
(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2005)