Hong Kong, Singapore stocking up for H5N1 testing Mon Nov 28, 2005 11:04 AM GMT
By Tan Ee Lyn
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Health authorities in wealthier parts of Asia are stocking up on diagnostic kits and chemicals to detect the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, which experts fear could mutate and trigger a pandemic that could kill millions.
In Hong Kong, government laboratories have bought more reagents, or chemicals used in testing for the virus, while private doctors in Singapore will soon be urged to stockpile rapid-test diagnostic kits, industry sources said.
Governments everywhere are scrambling to stock up on anti-viral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza. These are believed to reduce the symptoms and complications caused by the H5N1 virus, which is part of the influenza A type of viruses.
But both drugs are expensive and supplies are tight.
To prevent wastage and severe strain on healthcare systems, medical experts say it is crucial to quickly eliminate other forms of influenza, such as B and C, and narrow diagnoses down as far as possible to H5N1.
Tests on samples are now conducted mostly in laboratories and can take up to a week for World Health Organisation-affiliated laboratories to confirm if they are positive for H5N1.
In Hong Kong, a health department spokesman told Reuters in an email that the government has "stocked up reagents for influenza A H5 testing to cater for the pandemic setting, in line with the anticipated upsurge in workload".
In Singapore, steps are being taken to encourage private doctors to stock up on diagnostic kits.
"The Ministry of Health and Singapore Medical Association ... are putting up steps to advise our GPs and doctors to stockpile these rapid tests as well," said Tan Sze Wee, a council member of the association, by telephone.
RAPID TEST
Tan is also managing director of Singapore-based biotechnology firm Rockeby, which sells test kits that it says can detect the H5N1 virus in birds and humans in 10 minutes.
"When you look at one million people getting hit (in Hong Kong), or Singapore's half a million, the public sector cannot cope with the numbers, you need the GPs to cooperate in this."
Hong Kong and Singapore are working on the basis of dispensing anti-viral drugs to people during a pandemic once they show severe symptoms or are diagnosed with influenza A, and if they have suspicious case histories, such as having had contact with poultry in countries with outbreaks of the disease.
There are three families of influenza viruses: A, B and C. Influenza A viruses infect mammals and birds, while B and C infect only humans.
Type A viruses are responsible for seasonal flu infections across the globe in humans. They can cause epidemics and pandemics because they are genetically unstable and can undergo major reassortments of genetic material called antigenic shifts. These can lead to new variants for which humans have no immunity.
Populations tend to have more resistance to types B and C because they only undergo antigenic drifts, or smaller genetic changes, and have more similarity with previous strains.
However, some experts doubt widespread testing could be carried out even by the most sophisticated medical systems in the event of a crisis.
"In a catastrophic situation, I don't think a diagnosis will be made for each and every case. In the initial stages, it may be crucial, but in the event of hundreds of thousands of people getting infected, it will not be possible for every one to get tested," said infectious disease expert Lo Wing-lok, who advises the government in Hong Kong on emerging diseases.
"Tamiflu will be dispensed to those with severe symptoms and who are suspected to have contracted the virus. But those with mild symptoms will not be given because of limited supply."
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