2ND LD: 3 more deaths reported in H.K. for pneumonia outbreak

Asian Economic News, March 25, 2003

HONG KONG, March 19 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATES, ADDS REPORTS FROM SINGAPORE, BRUNEI)

The outbreak of new form of fatal and contagious pneumonia that has hit more than 200 people worldwide has claimed three more lives in Hong Kong, bringing the toll to five, health authorities said Wednesday.

The number of people infected with the often deadly disease has climbed to 145 with another five placed under observation, the authorities said. Most of the patients are health-care workers at public hospitals, medical students and relatives of patients.

But two of the infected patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital.

It was the first time that Hong Kong's health authorities released details of the death figures, apart from an American businessman who died early this month after having been sent to the territory for treatment from Hanoi.

The health authorities also included a mainland Chinese doctor who died a few weeks ago.

The latest three deaths reported are one index patient who transmitted the disease to seven health-care workers in Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, and two patients who stayed in a ward at Prince of Wales Hospital where the outbreak first occurred.

However, the health authorities said they have yet to confirm the two patients at Prince of Wales Hospital who died of atypical pneumonia because they had been suffering from heart and liver diseases.

Globally, the number of people killed by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) could be nine, if all Hong Kong deaths and a French doctor, who treated the first case in Hanoi and reportedly died early Wednesday, are included.

The bad news came as doctors in Hong Kong identified that the killer virus is a member of the paramyxoviridae family.

John Tam, a professor in the microbiology department at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told reporters Tuesday night that the finding indicates the current treatment applied to patients suffering from the illness has been the right choice.

But doctors still need to monitor individual patient reactions before they can conclude that the virus is curable, Tam said.

Doctors in Hong Kong have been giving a combination of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs and steroids to patients and good recovery has been seen in some patients, the health authorities said.

Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Yeoh Eng-kiong said Wednesday he hopes the fatality rate will decrease as doctors have found an effective treatment.

But it is yet to determine the nature and behavior of the virus because there are different viruses belonging to the paramyxoviridae family, Yeoh said.

''This virus, which causes respiratory infection, is thought to be a variant of a respiratory virus that causes infection in children...It is very, very peculiar that infections of this pneumonia that we see today are all in adults. The behavior of the virus is very strange,'' he said.

The discovery in Hong Kong, together with other findings in Germany and Taiwan, will have to be verified and confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to make sure that it is the same virus that has caused the disease worldwide, he said.

The disease has been emerging across the globe, with Vietnam reporting 57 cases and Singapore 23 cases, according to the WHO.

Canada, Germany, Thailand, Taiwan, Slovenia and Britain have also found suspected cases.

The WHO said it remains undetermined whether an epidemic of atypical pneumonia in China's Guangdong Province, which began last November, is related to the current outbreaks.

Five people died and 300 others were infected in Guangdong Province.

Since the first case of SARS was reported in late February, doctors and experts worldwide have been investigating its cause and origin and trying to solve the infection puzzle.

The symptoms include high fever, coughing, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, and can develop into severe pneumonia.

Both Hong Kong and WHO experts maintain that evidence shows the transmission of the disease requires direct and close contact.

Yeoh reiterated there is no sign of the disease spreading among the general public.

Health-care workers and people having close contact with infected patients remain the high-risk groups, he said.

In Singapore, the Health Ministry said 31 people are suffering from SARS, four of them in serious condition.

The ministry said eight new cases were identified Wednesday, with the virus spreading to three family members and five hospital staff who had been in close contact with those infected earlier, swelling the number of cases from 23 Tuesday to 31.

Singapore has also identified the microbe as belonging to the paramyxoviridae family, which is similar to the findings by authorities in Germany and Hong Kong, the ministry said.

''Preliminary investigations by the Pathology Department at the Singapore General Hospital and the Defense Medical Research Institute have identified the likely infective agent to belong to the paramyxovirus family,'' it said. ''This corroborates early investigation results by overseas centers.''