A Major Outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in Hong Kong

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 348; no. 20; pp. 1986 - 1994
• Main Authors: Lee, Nelson, Hui, David, Wu, Alan, Chan, Paul, Cameron, Peter, Joynt, Gavin M, Ahuja, Anil, Yung, Man Yee, Leung, C.B, To, K.F, Lui, S.F, Szeto, C.C, Chung, Sydney, Sung, Joseph J.Y
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA Massachusetts Medical Society 15-05-2003
• Subjects: Adult; Antiviral Agents - therapeutic use; Autopsy; Biological and medical sciences; Chills - etiology; Contact Tracing; Disease Outbreaks; Drug Therapy, Combination; Epidemics; Female; Fever - etiology; Glucocorticoids - therapeutic use; Hong Kong - epidemiology; Human viral diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase - blood; Lung - diagnostic imaging; Lung - pathology; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; Prednisolone - therapeutic use; Prognosis; Radiography; Ribavirin - therapeutic use; Risk Factors; Severe acute respiratory syndrome; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - complications; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - diagnosis; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - epidemiology; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - therapy; Tropical medicine; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the respiratory system and ent viral diseases; Hong Kong; Asia; China; Hong Kong China; Epidemic; Human; Lung disease; Intensive care; Radiodiagnosis; Respiratory disease; Critically ill; Mortality; Severe acute respiratory syndrome; Clinical form; Blood plasma; Radiography; Adult respiratory distress syndrome; Computerized axial tomography; Predictive factor; Blood cell count
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa030685

Over a period of two weeks at a hospital in Hong Kong 69 patients and 69 health care workers were admitted to isolation wards because of SARS. Thirty-two of those with SARS required intensive care, and five died. This report describes the clinical and radiologic features of SARS, and it analyzes the predictors of a poor outcome.
69 Patients and 69 health care workers were admitted to isolation wards because of SARS. Other articles describe clusters of cases in Hong Kong and in Canada . The full text of these articles is available free.
In March 2003, there was an outbreak of atypical pneumonia in Hong Kong. As of March 27, there were 367 reported cases in Hong Kong and more than 1400 cases worldwide.
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The disease may progress rapidly and often results in the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). As of this writing, there have been 10 deaths in Hong Kong related to the illness, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has named the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Globally, there have been at least 53 deaths related to SARS.
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Schools have been closed in Hong Kong, and more than 1000 people who . . .