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April 09, 2003

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"New Ideas on SARS Emerge, and Doctor Questions Chinese Data"

Wall Street Journal (www.wsj.com) (04/09/03) P. A10; Pottinger, Matt; Hutzler, Charles

A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, based on a sample of 138 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) cases in Hong Kong, indicates that SARS may have an incubation period of up to 16 days--longer than the 10- to 12-day surveillance period recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization (WHO). However, the WHO's Klaus Stohr says that other data does not support an incubation period beyond 11 days.  Hong Kong health officials also say that a damaged sewage system in the infected Amoy Gardens building complex could mean that cockroaches may have spread the SARS virus among the apartments. The WHO team in southern China suggests that infections there may be dropping off, and it says that the data they have accessed is generally accurate.  Dr. Jiang Yanyong, former chief of surgery for Beijing's No. 301 military hospital, has broken the official line and says that the number of SARS cases in the city is much higher than the official numbers state, but it is not clear if the cases to which he is referring are probable or suspected, and the classifications used vary from nation to nation.

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