Detection of mild to moderate influenza A/H7N9 infection by China’s national sentinel surveillance system for influenza-like illness: case series
Patient 1 was a 2 year old child from Shanghai, patient 3 was a 26 year old woman from Jiangsu, and patient 5 was a 9 year old primary school student from Fujian. Patients 3 and 5 had a history of poultry exposure. They all presented with fever and were seen within one day of symptom onset in a designated site of the sentinel surveillance system for influenza-like illness. Nasopharyngeal swabs were taken, as part of the 10-15 routine samples per week for virological surveillance. Because patients 1, 3, and 5 all had a mild presentation, they were not suspected to have been infected by A/H7N9 and were managed as outpatients without antiviral prescription. All three patients quickly recovered after 3-5 days. Nasopharyngeal swabs collected at the first visit to the ILI sentinel clinics for all three patients were tested positive for A/H7N9 after their full recovery.