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Herald Sun, New research published yesterday
in Britain suggests SARS is much more deadly than many other respiratory
diseases, particularly for older patients. And
Russia said it was considering tough border restrictions with China, where
experts say the SARS epidemic has yet to peak. The
latest scientific findings -- in The Lancet medical journal -- show
SARS is killing one in five of the patients sent to hospital with the
virus in hard-hit Hong Kong, including 55 per cent of infected patients
aged over 60. In
younger patients, the death rate could be as low as 6.8 per cent, the
study found. "That's
sadly still very high for a respiratory infection," said Roy
Anderson, the London's Imperial College epidemiologist who headed the
study. "In
other common respiratory infections it is much less than 1 per cent in the
vulnerable elderly." International
scientists and agencies point to wide global variations and still differ
over what the chances are for an average person dying from SARS. The
disease continues to hit China hard, despite tough public health measures,
including mass quarantines, road blocks, travel restrictions and some
school shutdowns. WHO
said it would deploy an investigative team tomorrow to the densely
populated northern province of Hebei, where the number of SARS infections
has risen sharply in the past week, doubling to 98 between April 30 and
May 4. So
far 113 cases have been reported in Hebei. The province borders Beijing,
which has been worst affected by the SARS epidemic. The
world SARS death toll stands at at least 480. More than 6700 people have
been infected since the disease surfaced in China's southern province of
Guangdong. China
has had 214 SARS deaths, nearly half of them in Beijing. Chinese
authorities are worried that if SARS stays out of control it could
devastate massive poor populations in its hinterland. "SARS
prevention in vast rural areas is a key component of the fight against the
disease," Premier Wen Jiabao was quoted as saying by the official
Xinhua News Agency. "It is vital
to the health of farmers, to rural economic and social development and
also to the overall success of the anti-SARS battle." Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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