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May 09, 2003

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

“Study Says Virus Has Remained Stable, Not Weakening as the Illness Spread”

New York Times (www.nytimes.com) (05/09/03) P. A13; Altman, Lawrence K.; Grady, Denise

The virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has not mutated significantly as it has spread to different areas, according to the first major study of the virus' genome--an encouraging finding, since it is easier to develop a vaccine for a stable virus.  However, the virus has not weakened either; subsequent infections are just as severe as earlier ones. For the study, which is published in the Lancet, researchers in Singapore compared the complete genomes of the virus that causes SARS from nine cases in Singapore to virus detected in Canada, China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that five people in Singapore served as “superspreaders” of the virus, transmitting it to 144 others, but approximately four out of five infected individuals did not spread the virus to anyone else.  The CDC is offering state health departments biological material so they can perform diagnostic blood tests, according to director Dr. Julie L. Gerberding.

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