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Biotech / Medical : SARS and Avian Flu -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Condor who wrote (760)	5/8/2003 9:22:20 PM
From: jackmore	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4232

Research Studies Shed New Light on SARS Virus Thu May 8, 2003 07:28 PM ET By Patricia Reaney LONDON (Reuters) - The virus that causes SARS does not change quickly, which may ease the search for a vaccine, and the lung damage suffered by patients could be due to a severe immune system response, scientists said on Friday. Two research papers published online by The Lancet medical journal shed new light on the respiratory virus that has killed more than 500 people and infected over 7,300 since it first emerged in China late last year. A genetic study of 14 samples of SARS -- a new member of the coronavirus family -- taken from patients in Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, Vietnam and Beijing and Guangzhou in China shows it is quite stable. 'Our results show several molecular facets of the SARS coronavirus pertinent to the public health management of this epidemic,' said Dr Edison Liu, of Singapore's Genome Institute. Genetic stability is a good thing because if the virus does not mutate rapidly it is less likely to evolve new strains and it may be possible to make a vaccine to combat it. But it could also be bad news because it means the virus is well suited to its human hosts and probably will not mutate into a less virulent form. Liu and his team said their comparison of the genetic sequences of the virus samples reveals the main components were mainly unchanged as it spread through different countries. 'The stability was somewhat surprising,' Professor Earl Brown, a virologist at the University of Ottawa in Canada who reviewed the research, told Reuters. 'It was gratifying to see that one could see inherent changes and one could track transmission between certain countries,' he added. Coronaviruses can have a high rate of genetic mutation. SARS is highly virulent, has an estimated death rate of up to 55 percent in older patients and appears to be suited to maintain human transmission with the genes it has. Scientists at the University Hong Kong, who studied 75 SARS cases from the outbreak at Amoy Garden housing block in Hong Kong, believe lung damage in patients is not caused by the replication of the virus but may be due to an immune system reaction. Professor Yuen Kwok-yung and his team followed up the patients for three weeks and noticed a similar pattern of illness. Eighty percent had a worsening lung condition after one week and 20 percent developed acute respiratory problems in the third week and required respirators. 'The progression of the disease to respiratory failure might not be associated with uncontrolled viral replication but may, in fact, be immunopathological in nature,' he said. asia.reuters.com