From the Lancet, can't post the whole article because I forgot my password (and I've got to take the dog for a walk)
As a registered user of www.thelancet.com, I thought you would be
interested to know that research from Hong Kong, fast-tracked for
publication on THE LANCET’s website, provides evidence that a new
virus belonging to the family Coronaviridae is likely to be the main
cause of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Malik Peiris from the University of Hong Kong and colleagues studied
50 patients with SARS from five separate outbreak clusters. After
identifying a new type of coronavirus from two patients, they
subsequently found evidence of virus activity in 90% of the patients
compared with 0% for a control group of healthy individuals or those
with unrelated illnesses.
The investigators comment that the new virus is not one of the two
known human coronaviruses. Nor is it exactly like any of the known
animal coronaviruses. Although more genetic analysis needs to be
done to be certain, Peiris believes that it may be a new virus which
may have originated from animals.
He comments: “This report provides evidence that a virus in the
coronavirus family is the etiological agent of SARS. However it
remains possible that other viruses act as opportunistic secondary
invaders to enhance the disease progression, a hypothesis that needs
to be investigated further.”
Ann Falsey and Edward Walsh from the University of Rochester, New
York, USA, state in an accompanying Commentary: “These findings
significantly strengthen the tentative aetiological association
reported by other investigators who have also isolated a novel
coronavirus from patients with SARS. As other pathogens, such as
human metapneumovirus and Chlamydia spp, are identified in SARS
patients, it will be important to use control groups to determine
their role in causality or as cofactors for severe disease.” |
