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Interferon may help fight SARS

Study finds drug can prevent virus from replicating

July 25 — As fears of a resurgence of SARS in Hong Kong grew Friday, scientists said a synthetic version of a natural immune system protein could be an effective treatment against the deadly respiratory infection.

PATIENTS WITH SARS, which emerged in southern China late last year, have been treated with steroids and the antiviral drug ribavirin with varying degrees of success, but researchers in Germany said recombinant interferon can prevent the virus from replicating.

“Interferon beta could be the drug of choice, alone or in combination with other antiviral drugs, in the treatment of SARS,” said Jindrich Cinatl of Frankfurt University Medical School.

The researchers tested the drug on two strains of the SARS coronavirus that were analyzed in Frankfurt and Hong Kong. Their results were reported in The Lancet medical journal Friday, a day after a government official in Hong Kong reported that 12 people had been admitted to hospital with suspected SARS.

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The suspected cases come about one month after the World Health Organization declared Hong Kong free of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Preliminary tests showed none of the 12 patients was SARS-positive, but conclusive test results were not expected for up to two days.

SARS, which was spread around the globe through international air travel, had infected more than 8,000 people. China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were most severely affected.

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