- (AFP) -- Sixteen patients, a relative and a staff member
at a mental institution in Hong Kong have been admitted to hospital with
a flu-like illness, the Department of Health said, but officials played
down any link to SARS.
-
- The Department of Health said the patients were taken
to Hong Kong's Princess Margaret Hospital in the last four days "for
physical examination, observation and treatment".
-
- "All the patients admitted are now in stable condition.
At this point, no laboratory test has shown any positive result for SARS."
-
- Earlier Thursday, a Government Information Service (GIS)
representative said the patients were not suspected of having Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome.
-
- SARS struck Hong Kong in mid-March, claiming 297 lives
from 1,755 infections.
-
- "They are not suspected SARS cases... (it's) just
respiratory symptoms," the representative told AFP, citing a health
ministry official.
-
- They were also suffering from fevers and coughs, she
said.
-
- The Salvation Army-run institution was being inspected
by health department staff, who were offering health screening and health
advice to other personnel and patients.
-
- According to the Department of Health, cases of influenza
have been on the rise in Hong Kong in recent weeks.
-
- Hong Kong was removed from a World Health Organization
(WHO) list of areas affected by SARS last month.
-
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