- HONG KONG -- The deadly Sars
virus is now attacking the intestines as well as the respiratory system,
a leading Hong Kong microbiologist said on Tuesday.
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- Speaking on Hong Kong radio station RTHK, Professor Malik
Peiris of Hong Kong University said the change may indicate the virus has
mutated as many experts feared.
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- Professor Peiris is one of the microbiologists at the
forefront of the Hong Kong research into the Sars virus which on Tuesday
claimed another five people in the territory bringing the total deaths
to 99.
-
- His comments come amid growing concern that the virus
is becoming more virulent with many doctors noting changes in the way the
disease behaves and who it proves fatal to.
-
- A number of deaths over the last week have occurred in
younger previously healthy people - one being a 34-year-old pregnant woman.
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- An increasing number of those infected with severe acute
respiratory syndrome (Sars) are now suffering from diarrhoea. As many of
two thirds of the residents who contracted Sars in the outbreak at the
Amoy Gardens high-rise had diarrhoea, according to health officials.
-
- Dr Tom Buckley, the head of the intensive care unit at
Hong Kong's Princess Margaret Hospital, said organ failure was also now
becoming more common.
-
- "Initially patients were presenting with just respiratory
failure," he said. "Now we're seeing renal failure and other
organ failure.
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- Hong Kong on Tuesday recorded 32 new infections - ten
more than Monday -bringing the total to 1 434. The latest deaths were
all elderly people over the age 65, with four having an history of chronic
illness.
-
- Announcing the latest figures, health secretary E K Yeoh
said he believed Sars would not go away and that they had to concentrate
on controlling it.
-
- "We do not anticipate that it will be eradicated
completely because this virus is highly infectious," he said. "So
our primary task is to reduce the size of the viral load in the community
and prevent outbreaks."
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- http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Sars/0,,2-10-1488_1350353,00.html
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