is this worrisome? last 6 deaths in HK broke pattern, they were not elderly; but were young.
Statement saying they don't believe it indicates a new mutation, but to have 6 young die, i wonder why?
Fit victims spark Sars worry
news.bbc.co.uk
More Sars cases have been reported in China
The deaths of six previously healthy young Hong Kong patients from the Sars illness has increased concern among doctors.
The majority of victims have either been elderly or had other underlying health problems which may have weakened them.
Dr. Liu Shao-haei, head of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, told a news conference he was "unhappy" with the number of younger victims.
A spokeswoman for the authority said it was investigating the deaths.
However, other health officials played down fears that the agent causing the illness - probably a virus - may have mutated again into a yet more virulent form.
The overall number of deaths continued to climb over the weekend, with unconfirmed reports suggesting 137 people have now died from Sars.
The number of cases has also breached the 3,000 barrier, although the World Health Organization has yet to verify this officially.
A German firm claims to have developed the first commercial test for a virus strongly linked to Sars, which it is distributing free of charge currently.
The test, which can be carried out from a throat swab, takes two hours to produce a report, it said.
How Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome has spread around the world
In pictures
The worst-hit areas continue to be China and Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada.
Six of the latest Sars deaths in Hong Kong involve "relatively young" patients with no aggravating illness - such as diabetes or heart disease.
However, Hong Kong Medical Association president Lo Wing-lok said he was not unduly alarmed by the deaths of younger, and apparently healthier, patients from viral pneumonia.
He said: "People of all ages succumb to any form of infectious disease."
Canadian deaths
In Canada, the largest outbreak of Sars outside of Asia killed three more people in the Toronto area, increasing the total number of Canadian deaths to 13, health officials said on Saturday.
Two people in China's remote northern region of Inner Mongolia have died, apparently from Sars, reinforcing fears about the spread of the disease.
Again, these new deaths have yet to be confirmed by WHO.
A British man became Indonesia's first Sars case when he was diagnosed over the weekend.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the epidemic is being contained elsewhere in the world, but they are concerned about China.
Medical staff are treating the illness aggressively
"We're not out of the woods yet and today's events, unfortunately, prove that," he added.
Across Canada, 283 probable or suspect cases have been reported, said Health Canada.
David Heyman, head of communicable diseases at the WHO, said that even in Hong Kong, which has the highest incidence after mainland China, there were signs that local health authorities were beginning to win the battle.
This was despite the fact Hong Kong is still reporting dozens of new cases each day. (edit--Heynman's statement sounds bureaucratic and rather than scientific--max
Airline reports
Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific airline denied local reports that it was considering a cost-cutting plan to ground all flights as the region's carriers feel the effects of plummeting passenger numbers.
"Cathay Pacific has considered a number of contingency measures to maintain its services, preserve cash and minimise expenditure," the company said in a statement.
In Singapore, an elderly man, dubbed a "super spreader", may have infected as many as 52 people, the government said.
The Singapore Government said it had introduced tougher screenings of air travellers arriving from affected such as Hong Kong, Canada, Taiwan, Hanoi and Vietnam.
Nurses and air force paramedics at the main airport, armed with the power to quarantine, are now taking the temperature of all travellers from Hong Kong and China's Guangdong province. |
