- NEW YORK (Reuters
Health) -- The discovery of tuberculosis (TB) in two patients with SARS
raises concern that the latter disease may somehow increase susceptibility
to the former, according to researchers from Singapore.
-
- SARS or severe acute respiratory syndrome wreaked havoc
on China, Hong Kong, and other countries across the world last year. The
disease was found to be caused by a microbe called a coronavirus.
-
- In the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, Dr. J. G.
H. Low and colleagues, from Tan Tock Seng Hospital, describe two men who
developed TB in association with SARS, "a phenomenon not previously
reported."
-
- The occurrence of two cases of TB among 236 patients
with probable SARS, far exceeds the TB rates typically seen in the general
population of Singapore, the authors note.
-
- In both cases, TB only came to light after full recovery
from SARS, when the patients developed persistent lung symptoms and worsening
chest X-ray findings. It is "highly likely," the team notes,
that both patients developed TB after acquiring SARS.
-
- The investigators suggest that the SARS coronavirus temporarily
suppresses the immune system making it harder for people to fight off the
TB microbe if exposure occurs.
-
- SOURCE: Clinical Infectious Diseases, June 15, 2004.
-
- Copyright © 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited
without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable
for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon.
-
- http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=571&ncid
=751&e=4&u=/nm/20040702/hl_nm/sars_tuberculosis_dc
|
