Posted on 04/22/2003 7:49:22 AM PDT by EternalHope
Microbiologist: SARS now attacking intestines
April 23 2003
The deadly SARS virus is now attacking the intestines as well as the respiratory system, a leading Hong Kong microbiologist said yesterday.
Speaking on Hong Kong radio station RTHK, Professor Malik Peiris of Hong Kong University said the change might indicate the virus had mutated, as many experts feared.
Professor Peiris is one of the microbiologists at the forefront of the Hong Kong research into the SARS virus, which killed another five people in the territory yesterday, bringing the total number of deaths to 99.
His comments come amid growing concern that the virus is becoming more virulent, with many doctors noting changes in the way the disease behaves and whom it kills.
A number of deaths over the past week have occurred in younger, previously healthy people - one being a 34-year-old pregnant women.
An increasing number of those infected with SARS are now suffering from diarrhoea. As many of two thirds of the residents who contracted SARS in the outbreak at the Amoy Gardens high-rise had diarrhoea, according to health officials.
Tom Buckley, the head of the intensive care unit at Hong Kong's Princess Margaret Hospital, said organ failure was also now becoming more common.
"Initially patients were presenting with just respiratory failure," Dr Buckley said. "Now we're seeing renal failure and other organ failure."
Hong Kong recorded 32 new infections yesterday - 10 more than Monday - taking the total to 1434. The latest deaths were all of people over the age 65, with four having an history of chronic illness.
Announcing the latest figures, health secretary E K Yeoh said he believed SARS would not go away and the Government had to concentrate on controlling it.
"We do not anticipate that it will be eradicated completely because this virus is highly infectious," he said. "So our primary task is to reduce the size of the viral load in the community and prevent outbreaks."
DPA
This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/22/1050777263907.html
No, Zithromax isn't an anti-viral. It works against bacteria. Some doctors give it to people with viral infections as a sort of "pre-emptive strike" against possible secondary bacterial infection.
Because not everyone who gets exposed to a bug will get sick, and not everyone who gets sick will get sick enough to be diagnosed. There are a lot of people in their 70s-90s running around with inactive TB that is only observed after death, or if they have a chest X-ray for some other reason.
Back in the 18th and 19th century, many of the poor in large cities like London, NY, etc. lived under such deplorable conditions that they had no resistance to TB infections. It became so common that it was called "The White Plague." There were many ways that it could be spread through all the social classes: for instance, it was common for wealthier women to use "wet nurses" to feed their babies. If a wet nurse had TB, then the baby was a good candidate for infection too.
We still have pockets of TB in poor populations (prisons, AIDs victims, very poor neighborhoods.) It just hasn't made its way into the general population, but there's no reason why it couldn't.
Add to that a dash or two of Cayene Pepper - and you've basically got the 'preventative measure' I found that keeps me clear of what used to be chronic sore throats ...
....it could have started from an attempt of China experimenting for a way to reduce it's population!
Just about everything stated about the SARS virus is compatible with FIPV. FIPV is highly variable in the course of the disease. There are carriers, some live months after infection and some just weeks at best. The FIPV may infect just the respiratory system or the peritoneal cavity. There are effusive and non-effusive forms. Lungs in an effusive form may fill up with fibrin rich serum which ultimately kills the patient.
This is just a quick overview of the virus. The more we learn about SARS, the scarier it gets.
I thought they were the shortest consumers of black and green tea in the world.
Great to see you still posting! What happened to DM?
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