Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Killer Virus (SARS) Identified
ProMed ^ | 03-18-03

Posted on 03/18/2003 4:19:36 PM PST by Mother Abigail

Killer virus identified

A team from the Prince of Wales Hospital and Chinese University of Hong Kong have identified the virus that has caused the recent outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome worldwide, confirming that the current anti-viral treatment applied to patients has been the right choice. Identifying the virus as a member of the Paramyxoviridae family, Professor John Tam of the department of microbiology of the Chinese University said it was detected by electron microscopy. The finding, announced late last night, was further confirmed by a molecular technique that revealed the nucleic acid sequence of the virus.

Asked if the virus was curable, Tam reiterated that the finding last night had indicated that the current treatment applied to patients suffering from the syndrome, more commonly known as atypical pneumonia, had been the right choice. But he added that they still needed to monitor individual patients' reactions before they could conclude that the virus was curable.

Lo Wing-lok, Medical Association president and legislator, said the Paramyxoviridae family incorporated different viruses that could affect humans and, as such, further studies were needed to establish whether it was a new virus. Earlier it was revealed that at least 6 patients were responsible for spreading the pneumonia in Hong Kong. Health chief Yeoh Eng-kiong also said that a mainland professor who died in [Hong Kong] SAR on 4 Mar 2003 was a victim of the atypical pneumonia.

The new information from officials indicated the disease had been more widespread in the SAR than originally believed. Yeoh said the pneumonia and suspected cases had now been isolated into 6 "clusters". Yeoh again stressed the government was not hiding anything. He insisted there was no sign of an outbreak at the community level.

[This is the second identification of a paramyovirus-like organism from a patient with SARS (see ProMED-mail posting Severe acute respiratory syndrome - worldwide (06) 20030318.0677). The first identification was made by investigators in Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg from specimens taken from a physician from Singapore who had treated some of the earlier cases seen in Singapore and was admitted to hospital in Frankfurt, Germany en route back to Singapore over the weekend. As mentioned in our earlier posting, it is important to confirm these findings and to identify a similar agent from other cases of SARS before it can be concluded that this agent is the cause of SARS.

That being said, this second identification of a paramxovirus-like organism from patients with SARS offers hope that the etiology of this outbreak may be identified soon. - Mod.MPP]


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: medvirus; paramyxoviridae; paramyxovirus; sars; sarshistory
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-119 next last
To: per loin
I'm seeing news about cases popping up in many countries...they always say just a few that are being investigated, but something about it doesn't seem right to me...
61 posted on 03/18/2003 8:00:39 PM PST by Judith Anne (Yes, I CAN walk and chew gum. But...being blonde...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: null and void
Between FR, the war, and sars, me too.
62 posted on 03/18/2003 8:02:08 PM PST by CathyRyan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 60 | View Replies]

To: Mother Abigail
So, a big pop by the end of the week, maybe?
63 posted on 03/18/2003 8:02:51 PM PST by Judith Anne (Yes, I CAN walk and chew gum. But...being blonde...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]

To: Judith Anne
I'd guess that anybody who has been to the area and has any cough or fever is being looked at as a "possible". But the story of a flight engineer being one of the afflicted in Hong Kong is very scary. The cockpit of a plane is small. Air is recirculated. The crew is in close contact for extended periods. If someone starts coughing, or feels sick, he cannot leave. And any crew members in the infectious stage could pass the bug to folks from around the world.
64 posted on 03/18/2003 8:09:31 PM PST by per loin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: Judith Anne
If you assume that we have a virus that has moved into a new host and appears to be able to replicate, spread and thrive within that new host. Then here's what follows..

1. Is quickly contained and burns itself out in the few infected.

2. Continues to spread, but we develop an effective regimen to fight its effects, burns out more slowly.

3. Continues to spread, but because of its viral nature we are unable to do little more than isolate the patient and protect the staff. Could be a very long summer

4. Goes pandemic, meets little resistance, called thinning the herd....
65 posted on 03/18/2003 8:12:45 PM PST by Mother Abigail
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 63 | View Replies]

To: Mother Abigail
You mentioned that you suspected the airline employee infections to be ground based. Have you any additional info? The media do not seem very aggressive on covering this.
66 posted on 03/18/2003 8:21:03 PM PST by per loin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: per loin
French doctor in Vietnam dies from mystery pneumonia

March 19 2003

Hanoi: A French doctor who treated the first case of the mystery respiratory illness diagnosed in Vietnam died today after contracting the virus, the French embassy said.

Jean-Paul Derosier, a 65-year-old anaesthetist, had been in a critical condition for several days at the French Hospital in Hanoi.

He had been in direct contact with a 48-year-old American who fell ill during a business trip to Hanoi and died in hospital last week in Hong Kong from the virus known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

A Vietnamese nurse who was also involved in the treatment of the American died over the weekend. A total of 54 cases of the illness have been diagnosed so far in Vietnam.

At least six deaths - two in Canada, two in Hong Kong and two in Vietnam - have now been attributed to the disease, which has been described as an atypical pneumonia or influenza-like illness.  
67 posted on 03/18/2003 8:21:12 PM PST by Mother Abigail
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: per loin
Just part of a theory that I am working on.

I believe that it is more virulent than reported. That sneezing and coughing are transmitting the virus in large crowds. Airports, buses, trains, etc..Places where tourist gather. Airline engineer might have been infected in terminal or lounge.

Just conjecture, but we have to try to get the theory to fit the data...
68 posted on 03/18/2003 8:26:34 PM PST by Mother Abigail
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 66 | View Replies]

To: per loin
Back when smoking was allowed on the airlines, outside air was used to assist ventilation in the passenger cabins...I know you were posting about cockpits, and I know nothing about the far east planes and their construction, or if smoking is allowed on any of them today...but I do recall reading somewhere that 02 levels are lower on planes today...
69 posted on 03/18/2003 8:27:29 PM PST by Judith Anne (If you're pyschic, think "Honk.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: Mother Abigail
Right now I'm thinking 2 and 3. A vaccine is most likely months away from development; testing, manufacture and distribution take a while, too...next winter maybe...
70 posted on 03/18/2003 8:30:06 PM PST by Judith Anne (If you're pyschic, think "Honk.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: Mother Abigail
The initial WHO worldwide warning seemed early, given the number of cases at that time. Perhaps WHO knew that a flight engineer was one of the cases.
71 posted on 03/18/2003 8:33:56 PM PST by per loin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: per loin
A second man has died in Hong Kong after being stricken by a mysterious pneumonia, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The illness is now believed to have claimed at least 11 lives in Asia and Canada.

"The man died last night," a Hospital Authority spokeswoman told AFP. "We are investigating the cause of the death," she said.
The man, whose identity was not immediately released, was among 111 people in Hong Kong with the virus, called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), according to official statistics yesterday.

He died at the Prince of Wales
72 posted on 03/18/2003 8:38:30 PM PST by Mother Abigail
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 71 | View Replies]

To: Mother Abigail
More helpful words from our Alfred E. Newman agency in China:

19 Mar 2003 03:37 China says pneumonia outbreak under control

BEIJING, March 19 (Reuters) - China said on Wednesday the atypical pneumonia outbreak that has affected parts of the southern province of Guangdong since November has been brought "under effective control".

China had "organised medical institutions and medical specialists to give emergency treatment to patients in time, analyse the cause of the disease and take immediate measures to curb the spread of the disease", the official Xinhua news agency quoted Health Minister Zhang Wenkang as saying.

Victims had recovered and life in the area had returned to normal, the agency quoted Zhang as saying in a meeting with Henk Bekedam, the World Health Organization representative in China.

The new form of pneumonia has been blamed for 10 deaths -- mainly in Asia -- and made hundreds ill around the world.

73 posted on 03/18/2003 8:39:35 PM PST by per loin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: Mother Abigail
Wouldn't it be wierd if the virus was a variant or mutant of the Canine Distemper Virus and the natural host was a dog? I remember about 15 years ago the virus mutated and killed a number of large cats all over the world, especially lions. If the survivors of this disease develop neurological signs I am going to vaccinate myself with CDV or measles. One can vaccinate a dog with human measles and protect it against Canine Distemper Virus since they are so closely related.
74 posted on 03/18/2003 8:57:01 PM PST by vetvetdoug
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: vetvetdoug
HONG KONG —  Public sector health workers in Hong Kong are up in arms, claiming that they have unnecessarily been exposed to danger as the price to pay for the government trying desperately to allay the public's fears over the spread of an atypical pneumonia that has claimed at least nine lives world-wide.

In the face of a possible epidemic outbreak of what has been labeled severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the Hong Kong government is advising its medical staff to take no chances, while at the same time telling its citizens and the world that there is nothing to worry about.

Angry doctors and nurses gathered on Monday at the partly-closed Prince of Wales Hospital to voice their protest against the government's handling of the situation.

The president of the Public Doctors' Association, Dr Leung Ka-lau, has described the situation in Hong Kong as "red light", without giving further details. He criticized the government for misleading the public into believing that Hong Kong was in the "yellow light" stage.

75 posted on 03/18/2003 9:02:54 PM PST by per loin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 74 | View Replies]

To: vetvetdoug
Well Canine Parvovirus was a completely new disease, not merely a previously unrecognized one. I believe that it is a mutant of the cat distemper virus.

But wouldn't we see the terrible diarrhea?

76 posted on 03/18/2003 9:13:50 PM PST by Mother Abigail
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 74 | View Replies]

To: per loin
Good catch,

I expect more of the same, within a day or so we should have e-mail connections in the heart of the beast.
77 posted on 03/18/2003 9:16:58 PM PST by Mother Abigail
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 75 | View Replies]

To: Mother Abigail
From the China Daily:

"The disease is now effectively under control and the patients have recovered gradually and are resuming their normal lives," Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said yesterday.

Kong revealed that two officials of the World Health Organization (WHO) and a group of experts visited China in late February and early March to investigate the SARS cases in Guangdong Province.

78 posted on 03/18/2003 9:17:21 PM PST by per loin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 76 | View Replies]

To: Mother Abigail
From the Straits Times:

Despite warnings on Monday by SIA and Cathay Pacific that people with flu-like symptoms may not be allowed to check in, nobody was turned away from the counters at Changi airport yesterday.

Mr Martin Freibergs, 26, a purchaser from Sweden, had stopped over in Hongkong for three days before coming to Singapore. He was going back to Hongkong on Cathay Pacific before returning to Sweden. He had a very hoarse voice, a sore throat, and was coughing.

'You hear my voice? I am worried. I will go to a doctor for an examination once I get back to Sweden,' he said.

But he added that he hadn't considering cancelling his trip.

Neither did the counter staff stop him from checking in or ask any questions.

Cathay Pacific Airways had copies of the WHO travel advisory on its counters for passengers to pick up if they wanted to.

79 posted on 03/18/2003 9:28:55 PM PST by per loin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 77 | View Replies]

To: per loin
"Mr Martin Freibergs, 26, a purchaser from Sweden, had stopped over in Hongkong for three days before coming to Singapore. He was going back to Hongkong on Cathay Pacific before returning to Sweden. He had a very hoarse voice, a sore throat, and was coughing."

In a bygone era he would be travelling salesman plying pots and pans or some such. Reminds me of accounts from 13th and 14th centuries regarding the spread of the Plague. Also neatly complements the old movies' depiction of Europeans' age old fear of travellers and new visitors.

New DWORD value: TinFoilHatOn. Value data=1.

80 posted on 03/18/2003 9:41:00 PM PST by Justa
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 79 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-119 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson