A woman wearing a mask to protect herself from severe acute respiratory syndrome performs Tai Chi in a demonstration against the illness in Hong Kong, where five new SARS cases were reported yesterday.
Posted on 05/05/2003 7:10:33 AM PDT by InShanghai
Less than a month after scientists cracked the genetic code of the SARS coronavirus, the virus is mutating, causing new forms to emerge in Southeast Asia.
Doctors at the Chinese University of Hong Kong report at least two types of SARS in the territory's hospitals.
''The virus is mutating fast,'' said Dennis Lo, one of a team of microbiologists who have just finished a study on the SARS virus.
''Such a quick mutation means that even if there is a cure it may become ineffective. Even a diagnostic test may not be able to detect it if it has undergone change.''
Dr. Lo doesn't know if the new strains will be deadlier or more infectious than the old.
However, the mutations mean SARS patients who recover might not be immune to re-infection.
Scientists have also discovered the SARS coronavirus can live on surfaces and in human waste for considerably longer than previously thought.
German scientists say the microbe can survive on plastic surfaces -- such as an elevator button -- for up to 24 hours. And tests suggest it can live in human feces for as long as four days. A key theory is that SARS was spread to hundreds of people in the Amoy Gardens apartment complex in Hong Kong by infected sewage that was aerosolized by a leaky pipe.
''This is important, because traces of stool could occur on surfaces in hospitals, so this is very important to know in sterilizing those environments,'' said Klaus Stohr, the World Health Organization's top SARS scientist.
SARS has now killed at least 449 people around the world.
China remains the worst-hit country with 181 dead and more than 3,800 people infected.
Five new SARS deaths were reported in Hong Kong yesterday, bringing its toll to 184 deaths and 1,629 infections. However, Hong Kong officials said only eight new cases have been reported, the smallest figure since daily reporting began in March.
Health Canada has had reports of 326 probable or suspect cases of SARS in Canada with 23 deaths. No new Canadian cases were reported over the weekend.
However, Canadian scientists are poring over the latest report about SARS virus mutations.
Dr. Lo and his team in Hong Kong isolated the virus in 11 victims and found four different strains. The strains came from related groups of victims, which means the microbe has changed in the two months since it struck the city.
The syndrome's symptoms also seem to be changing. Recent SARS patients in Hong Kong have suffered more diarrhea than patients infected earlier in the outbreak.
''This is not completely surprising,'' said Andrew Simor, chief microbiologist at Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.
''We suspect that the SARS-related coronavirus emerged as a new strain from previously known coronaviruses. So we know it has that ability to mutate and change its genetic structure and thereby create a new strain.''
Dr. Simor says no new viral strains have been found in Canada so far. He said the mutations could complicate the search for a vaccine against SARS.
''The more variability there is in the virus, the more difficult it is to actually design an effective vaccine,'' he said.
If the virus changes substantially, it could also make detection a problem, since current SARS tests depend on identifying parts of the virus. So a single test for all SARS patients would not be effective.
Scientists in Japan say warm weather may signal a break. Their studies show the SARS coronavirus begins to break down in temperatures in the mid-30s, but stayed active at temperatures of about seven degrees and lower. This suggests the virus could survive a winter in Canada.
Also yesterday, it was revealed a dozen former SARS patients here who were initially thought to have suffered relapses actually had other medical problems, health officials said.
Dr. Liu Shao-haei said at a news conference that while some of the patients had developed fevers or other symptoms of illness after their initial discharge from a hospital, not one turned out to be sick again with SARS. In one case, a woman had developed leg swelling from deep-vein thrombosis apparently caused by her prolonged bed rest during her treatment for SARS, Dr. Liu said.
"They are all confirmed as not related to any relapse of SARS conditions," he said, adding that all but four had already been released again from hospitals.
Dick Thompson, a spokesman for the World Health Organization, welcomed the re-evaluation of the cases here that were initially diagnosed as relapses, and the decline in new cases in Beijing. "It sounds like there's lots of good news," he said.
Beijing authorities yesterday ordered that all city schools remain closed for an additional two weeks beyond the original reopening date of May 8.
"The city's education department ordered the closure to prevent the spread of SARS among the 1.37 million students," the official New China News Agency reported.
A woman wearing a mask to protect herself from severe acute respiratory syndrome performs Tai Chi in a demonstration against the illness in Hong Kong, where five new SARS cases were reported yesterday.
Also yesterday, it was revealed a dozen former SARS patients here who were initially thought to have suffered relapses actually had other medical problems, health officials said.
It looks like there may be a break in this cycle after all. The next flu season is going to be a time to watch for sure.
IMO, if SARS was ignored completely, it would be rampant in many countries and a very large number of people would be dead or dying today. The efforts of the WHO, and each country where it had spread to has brought SARS to everyone's attention and caused an unprecedented slow down to a potential worldwide epidemic.
I agree that there are plenty of other options out there...
I wouldn't count my chickens yet. If this Virus is mutating as fast as they say it is, what is to stop it from mutating to a form that can survive 30+ degrees?
If it does than we all have something extremely serious to contend with. Let's hope all the research that's going on helps find a viable solution to the disease.
The season would probably be longer based on it's ability to survive large temperature variations (7C~30C).
Ignore His words if you choose, but, with pestilence like we now have here on earth, one would have to be rather foolish, in my not so humble opinion, to ignore the words of the Lord spoken 1,970 years ago.
Does a bear, er...ahem...eat in the woods?
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