SARS Roundup: April 24, 2003

Disease may be more deadly than previously thought

THURSDAY, April 24, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- The virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) may be more deadly than first thought.

Hong Kong officials say the territory's death rate from SARS has increased to 7.2 percent from about 5 percent. And one health expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong told a local newspaper the death rate may climb as high as 10 percent, the Associated Press reports.

Singapore's health minister told the AP the SARS death rate in that city-state is 8 percent to 9 percent.

There were four more SARS deaths in Hong Kong on Thursday, bringing the death toll there to 109. There have been 19 SARS deaths in Singapore.

In Canada, the most affected nation outside of Asia, the country's main virology laboratory says the SARS virus is showing up in only 40 percent of lab tests of probable and suspected cases of the disease. That's an unexpectedly low rate that has experts puzzled, The New York Times reports.

The lab also says the number of recent cases testing positive for the SARS virus is on the decline, and some people not suspected of being infected are testing positive for the disease.

Lab director Dr. Frank Plummer told the Times these findings were "weird" and might weaken the link between SARS and the new coronavirus that last week was fingered as the cause of the disease.

In China, the source of the epidemic, the government has ordered a large-scale quarantine for thousands of Beijing residents who've come into contact with people suspected of carrying the SARS virus.

As part of that effort to contain the spread of SARS, officials closed one of the city's major hospitals and ordered more than 2,000 employees and patients to be held there, the Times reports.

In other areas of Beijing, factories, schools and homes where people with SARS symptoms worked, studied and lived have been locked down with isolation orders.

China has been hardest hit by SARS, with 2,422 reported cases and 110 deaths. Beijing has 774 confirmed SARS cases, and hundreds of other people are suspected of being infected with the virus.

In Toronto, city officials and members of the business community are livid over the World Health Organization's advisory to travelers to steer clear of Canada's largest city.

Coming near the start of the crucial summer tourist season, the WHO travel advisory could mean economic chaos for the city, officials fear. Politicians, medical and public health officials in Toronto insist the city is safe for residents and safe for tourists, the Toronto Star reports.

Canada's senior diplomat in Geneva, Switzerland, was scheduled to visit WHO headquarters in that city to try and convince WHO officials to rescind the travel advisory.

There have been 16 SARS deaths in Toronto, which has 136 confirmed cases.

More information

To learn more about SARS, visit the World Health Organization or the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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