H5N1-infected cells in lung with diffuse alveolar damage in exudative phase from a fatal case in Vietnam.

Necropsied lung tissues of three fatal cases with avian influenza A virus (H5N1) infection in Vietnam were analyzed to detect H5N1 virus-infected cells. Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded lung tissue sections showed typical histological features of diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) in all cases. Immunohistochemistry for the influenza A virus nucleoprotein antigen revealed positive signals of bronchiolar and alveolar epithelial cells in only one patient, who exhibited DAD with an exudative phase and died on the 6th day after onset.

Avian influenza A (H5N1) in 10 patients in Vietnam.

Background: Recent outbreaks of avian influenza A (H5N1) in poultry throughout Asia have had major economic and health repercussions. Human infections with this virus were identified in Vietnam in January 2004.

Methods: We report the clinical features and preliminary epidemiologic findings among 10 patients with confirmed cases of avian influenza A (H5N1) who presented to hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam, in December 2003 and January 2004.