The teenager hospitalized for a presumed case of avian influenza is in a critical condition, as per several media reports. The first-ever case of H5N1 Bird Flu has been detected in Canada in a teenager as per an official statement on the website of the western province. Provincial health officer Bonnie Henry in a news conference on Tuesday expressed his concern over his condition as he was a "healthy teenager with no underlying conditions." Warning about the dangers of bird flu in young, Henry was quoted as saying by The Guardian: “It just reminds us that in young people this is a virus that can progress and cause quite severe illness and the deterioration that I mentioned was quite rapid.”
The teenager's first symptoms a week before hospitalization were conjunctivitis or red eyes, fever and cough, Henry was quoted as saying by CNN. Henry added that the illness progressed to acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS.
