- Unlike the first cases of Sars in the territory, recent
ones appear to be less responsive to treatment
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- Recent cases of Sars in Hong Kong were more serious and
less responsive to treatment than those who first came down with the illness,
stumping health officials, who also reported 12 deaths yesterday in the
territory's highest one-day jump.
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- Health authorities also revealed yesterday that a Cathay
Pacific steward had been confirmed with Sars and that efforts were being
made to contact the 220 passengers on CX714 from Singapore to Hongkong
last Tuesday.
- O
- With 31 new cases yesterday, Hong Kong now has 1,358
cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).
-
- Dr Yu Wai Cho, a consultant with the Princess Margaret
Hospital, told reporters: 'Recent cases, not just from Amoy Gardens, but
also from other areas such as Kwun Tong, are more seriously afflicted and
respond less well to treatment.'
-
- Health officials are stumped and are investigating this
development. But they did not rule out the viral load, mutation of the
Sars virus, or the existence of an additional virus. And with fatalities
rising in recent weeks, health officials are hard pressed to explain the
treatment protocol they have adopted.
-
- Dr Yu said Sars treatment here, comprising the anti-viral
drug Ribavirin and steroids, was at a mature stage. Generally, 95 per cent
of patients respond to this cocktail. The recovery rate for patients who
sought treatment within five days of contracting Sars was very high, he
said.
-
- Dr Loretta Yam of the Pamela Youde Eastern Hospital,
who visited Guangzhou last week to exchange information on Sars with Guangdong
officials, said mainland doctors were also using Ribavirin and steroids.
-
- Health Secretary Yeoh Eng Kiong said: 'My last phone
call with the Ministry of Health in Singapore told me that they were, in
fact, using very similar treatment as we are. So, this is the global experience.'
- MORTALITY RATE
- InAs doctors grapple with new Sars remedies, Hong Kong
is looking at solving a number of long standing problems that might affect
hygiene, including littering and building density.
-
- Home Affairs Secretary Patrick Ho, who walked past cockroach-infested
sites, clogged drains and heaps of rubbish in backlanes during a clean-up
blitz yesterday, said: 'I feel ashamed at how dirty Hong Kong is. Conditions
are terrible!'
-
- He was one of several ministers, led by Chief Executive
Tung Chee Hwa, taking part in the two-day clean-up of environmental black
spots that began yesterday.
-
- The officials, assigned to different locations territory-wide,
took up brooms, mops and brushes, and handed out bottles of bleach and
hygiene kits to residents.
-
- Community leader Rosanna Wong, who led 6,000 volunteers
in the exercise, said: 'We want to show the world that we are determined
to make Hong Kong clean.'
-
- Apart from luring visitors back to a more hygienic territory,
the high-profile campaign also aims to boost local consumption, which has
taken a battering in the Sars scare.
-
- Chief Secretary Donald Tsang had a cup of coffee in a
cafe in Lan Kwai Fong, while Treasury Secretary Frederick Ma bought some
food at a street stall.
-
- Housing Secretary Michael Suen said that after the experience
at Amoy Gardens which has over 320 Sars cases, building regulations would
be reviewed to ensure that flats are built further apart.
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- http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,4386,184245,00.html
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