Babies may have been infected before birth
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
hongkong.scmp.com
PATSY MOY
Three newborn babies may have contracted severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) from their mothers after the women fell ill with the disease while pregnant, a paediatrics professor at the Chinese University said yesterday.
Hon Kam-lun told the South China Morning Post that the babies were born prematurely by caesarean section after their mothers were confirmed as having the virus. The births were brought forward because of the possible damaging side-effects of anti-Sars medicine on unborn children.
The babies were born between 28 and 32 weeks into their mothers' pregnancies. The most premature baby is believed to be the child of a 34-year-old woman who died in Princess Margaret Hospital on Monday. Another baby is believed to be the child of an HSBC employee who was last night critically ill, also in Princess Margaret Hospital.
The details of the third infant were not available, and the Hospital Authority did not return calls on the matter.
Professor Hon said all three babies now suffered severe respiratory problems but had so far tested negative for Sars. "However, we are not sure whether their lung disease is caused by premature birth or by Sars. We are now investigating their cases and doing follow-ups," he said.
The cases of the newborns emerged as scientists struggle to find the key to a crucial puzzle - why Sars appears to be far deadlier among adult patients than young children.
According to the Department of Health, there are about 100 Sars patients under the age of 16, accounting for around 8 per cent of the total 1,232 infections. But there have been no fatalities among the young patients so far.
Professor Hon said clinical observations showed young patients under the age of 13 displayed milder symptoms than adults, and only a handful had been admitted to intensive-care wards.
"In general, their symptoms are as mild as catching a flu, such as fever and cough. That may explain why we have so far not seen a serious outbreak in kindergartens and primary schools such as we see among the adult population.
"Some children in the community may have contracted the virus but their symptoms may not be as severe as those of adults. So parents and doctors may have missed [identifying] those cases," the paediatrics professor added.
He said doctors usually applied a similar dosage of anti-viral drugs to young Sars patients as they administered to adults.
Professor Hon warned that the severity of symptoms among older teenagers was similar to that in adults.
He also said his team had launched a study of 12 young Sars patients. His observations showed most of them contracted the virus from their families or doctors through direct contact.
Lau Yu-lung, chair professor and head of the department of paediatrics and adolescent medicine at the University of Hong Kong, said fewer than 10 children had needed intensive-care treatment for Sars so far.
Professor Lau said doctors believed young children had a different immune response to the virus.
"We cannot simply treat young children as a smaller version of adults. Their immune systems are not as developed as those of adults. So they may have a different immune response to viruses," he said.
However, Professor Lau said speculation about children's immune responses to Sars was simply conjecture and there was not enough scientific evidence to confirm such theories.
"In fact, many doctors including myself are very interested in finding out the reasons for the phenomenon," he added.
Professor Lau said it remained uncertain whether young Sars carriers were just as contagious as adults - raising questions over the potential dangers of allowing children to return to school. |
