Hospital refuses to give resident bird flu test

A Minhang district hospital has refused to test a resident for the H7N9 bird flu virus despite her fever and insistence that she get tested, according to a post on the resident's microblog that had been forwarded more than 1,500 times as of Monday afternoon.

The hospital's refusal shows that just because a patient wants to be tested for bird flu doesn't mean he or she must be tested. The new strain of the disease has infected 24 people and killed nine in Shanghai as of Monday afternoon.

The resident, Ni Haiyan, 36, went to Shanghai Minhang District Central Hospital Sunday evening with a fever of 39.2 C, according to her microblog. When she demanded to be tested for the disease, the hospital refused, explaining that she didn't meet the national criteria to get the test.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission requires patients to meet four criteria to get the test. Along with having a fever above 38 C, their white blood cell count must be at or below the normal level. The patient has to undergo a medical scan and the image has to show the characteristics of pneumonia, according to the commission's plan to prevent H7N9 from spreading. Lastly, doctors have to confirm that the pneumonia symptoms were not caused by common diseases.

Two doctors told Ni that she did not meet the criteria because she had a high white blood cell count, she said. They also pointed out that the image of her lungs would've had a larger shadow if she had bird flu.

"However, I was afraid that the disease was just in its early stages and I would miss the best period to receive treatment," she told the Global Times Monday.

The Shanghai Minhang District Central Hospital confirmed Ni's story but refused to offer any comment.

There was a discrepancy between the two sides about how high her fever was. A hospital insider told the Global Times that Ni had 38.1 C fever when she was tested at the hospital.

The online reaction to Ni's story varied widely. A microblogger called "Qiansi Penelope" posted that hospital should give patients H7N9 tests to ensure they are diagnosed and treated as early as possible.

Another microblog user called "zhuzhubrush" posted that the test should only be given to pneumonia patients when the cause of the condition cannot be determined. Otherwise, it is a waste of public resources, he wrote.

The Minhang district disease control center also refused to test her for the virus, Ni said.

The district's disease control authority does not accept testing samples from individuals, said an employee surnamed Zhu from the authority's general office. It only accepts samples from hospitals.

"The national health authority has created standards to determine whether to test patients for the H7N9 virus. Patients without the typical symptoms do not need the test," Zhu said.

Special report: H7N9 avian influenza