BREAKING BIG: POSSIBLE PATHOGEN DETECTED IN SARS CASE

PROMED ^ | 03-18-03

[Mother Abigail]

Paramyxovirus-like particles identified by electron microscopy

Numerous tests have been performed on the 3 patients admitted on Saturday 15 March to the Isolation Unit at Frankfurt am Main with suspected severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Tests from respiratory specimens for influenza A and B virus, respiratory syncytial virus, enteroviruses, _Mycoplasma pneumoniae_ and _Chlamydia_ spp. by antigen enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and/or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were all negative; antibody tests for dengue, influenza A and B, measles, hantaviruses, _Mycoplasma pneumoniae_ and _Chlamydia_ spp. were likewise negative or unremarkable so far; further test results are pending.

Particles morphologically resembling paramyxoviruses were seen in respiratory specimens (throat swab and sputum) obtained from the index patient, a doctor from Singapore, by the teams in Marburg and in Frankfurt am Main.

It remains to be seen whether this finding can be confirmed -- tests including low-stringency paramyxovirus PCR and tissue culture are currently under way in Hamburg, in Marburg and in Frankfurt am Main. It needs to be emphasised that at this time these preliminary results only indicate a suspicion. Furthermore, even if the presence of a paramyxovirus was confirmed, it is not clear at this stage whether this might represent the causal agent of SARS or rather a coincidental finding.

[Constitution Day]

Yes, it's also going around Wilson (I caught it at work I think).
I tried the "forty-percent ethanol solution" (LOL) just last night, but I am at work today.

I'm one of those annoying people who has to have an arm dangling by a thread to miss work.

[hispanarepublicana]

Found this great diary excerpt of Spanish Flu researchers:

I don't have glasses on, and at first glance, this looked like "Spanish Fly Researchers."

[VRWC_minion]

Thanks. So its good news that they have a lead and bad news if the lead is correct ? Am I safe in assuming that measles, mumps etc don't react to antibiotics, such treatment is probaly a waste of time, a vacination will take some time and until then those who get are are more or less out of luck ?

Is it possible this pathogen was created ?

[Terriergal]

So how do they know for sure it's viral/bacterial and not fungal?

[dd5339]

Ping!

[hispanarepublicana]

To: Mother Abigail; RandallFlagg ping? Both on FR???

EEeeeeeeeeee!

[BJClinton]

So far I've learned you can get chlamydia from an arthropod, I think. I guess I'll have to take a shower and check back later.

Quit making jokes!!! This is vey series!!!

[Oberon]

So far I've learned you can get chlamydia from an arthropod, I think.

No, you get chlamydia from a chlam.

[Mother Abigail]

Reuters ^

Posted on 03/18/2003 2:07 AM PST by per loin

Hong Kong Pneumonia Cases Rise to 123

Tue March 18, 2003 04:23 AM ET

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The number of people in Hong Kong infected by an unidentified pneumonia rose to 123 on Tuesday, up from 95 a day earlier, a Hospital Authority official said.
Of these victims, 111 are suffering a severe form of pneumonia, compared with 83 on Monday, said Ko Wing-man, a director at the authority.

The mysterious respiratory disease, known as severe acute respiratory syndrome and believed to have originated in China late last year, has killed nine people and made hundreds sick here, in Vietnam, Singapore, Canada, Taiwan.

[flutters]

Lots of unanswered questions.

[null and void]

So its good news that they have a lead and bad news if the lead is correct?

Dunno, assuming they are right knowing what it is early on does help. No cure/vaccine now, but a place to start.

Am I safe in assuming that measles, mumps etc don't react to antibiotics, such treatment is probaly a waste of time, a vacination will take some time and until then those who get are are more or less out of luck?

Yes. Don't get it!

Is it possible this pathogen was created ?

In today's world, always. But I *think* natural.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Dat's funny!

[gas_dr]

Thanks for the picg. Let me see if I can help translate. Paramyxovirus is one of a bout a billion respiratory viruses. RSV which has been alluded to in this thredad is a disease that everyone eventually has in childhood. The danger is for premies or immunocompromised kids that it may cause respiratory distress. Respiratory distress syndrome, or Acute respiratory distress syndrome, or severe respiratory distress syndrome is more of a clionical diagnosis. UIt occurs when the lungs have changes in them that allow fluid to build on them -- or more technically in the lung tissue itself. The virus may cause this by either directly attacking the small vessels in the lungs causing fluid to flow out of the vessels an into the tissue (capillary leak syndrome) or my cause such a massive inflammatory response in the body that it causes all the vessels to leak -- and the result is the same -- namely fluids in the tissues (interstitial fluid for those of you wanting the technical jargon).

OK, so once the fluids hit the lungs, instead of being easily inflated and deflated, they get stiff, and it is hard to breath. Ultimately, mechanically ventilation is required, but because the lungs are so stiff, the volume of gas taken in is disproportionate to the pressure required to drive it in (the fundamentals of positive pressure -- mechanical -- venilation vs normal, negative pressure breathing).

If the body can be supported through the crises, and the syndrome resolves, I see not reason that there would be lasting sequalae. In fact, I heard that over 150 cases, only a couple have resorted to death. I suppose that this will be like any bad influenza (also a respiratory virsus) where the not so strong bodies will not do well...but time will tell.

[Endeavor]

Mother Abigail does a nice explanation here in post #13.

The gist of it is, just because they found particles that may be paramyxovirus doesn't mean that's the causitive organism. Paramyxoviruses cause a variety of diseases from mumps to parainfluenza.

This is simply a preliminary report - not even sure that they even have identified enough viral particle to determine if it's a paramyxovirus for sure yet. If it is a paramyxo particle, it could be incidental or it could be the causitive agent. More tests need to be done.

[knak]

I put in Paramyxovirus and "wmd" into google and found this:

MEASLES, HIV, EBOLA MAY ALL BE RELATED - STUDY

Mar. 27 /99
Reuters
WASHINGTON -- Researchers were cited as reporting on Friday that the viruses that cause measles, AIDS, Ebola and influenza may all be distantly related, perhaps descended from a common ancestor. Scientists who have imaged the viruses say they all use a very similar mechanism to enter the cells they infect.

Virologist Robert Lamb, a member of the team at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Northwestern University in Chicago that did the work, was quoted as saying, in a statement, "The structure of this molecule shows that a widely dissimilar virus, a virus that everybody thought was very different from the other group, ends up in fact having remarkable similarities. It suggests a common ancestor among all these viruses, where one would have thought them not to be related at all." Writing in the journal Molecular Cell, the researchers were cited as saying that they used X-ray crystallography to look at the "fusion protein" of a paramyxovirus. The paramyxoviruses cause diseases such as measles, mumps, croup and viral pneumonia. The fusion protein serves as a grappling hook that snags the infected cell, pulling it together with the virus. The virus can then inject its own genetic material into the cell, forcing it to pump out copy after copy of the virus. The researchers were, according to this story, surprised to find their fusion proteins so closely resemble those of other viruses, such as HIV and Ebola.

Crystallographer Theodore Jardetzky was cited as saying that knowing just how this mechanism works can help scientists design defenses against it, adding, "The fusion protein was of particular interest, because for HIV it's been shown that if you can inhibit the fusion protein, you can block viral entry."

An experimental new class of HIV drugs targets this protein.

[gas_dr]

PS -- sorry about the lousy spelling I am at work...

[tall_tex]

They are not talkin' Texan here..

[null and void]

EEeeeeeeeeee!

Indeed. We're all gonna DIE!!!!

[TaxRelief]

People who are "resistant" to strep are often actually carriers.