Military

DATE=4/16/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ASIA SARS (L)

NUMBER=2-302273

BYLINE=KATHERINE MARIA

DATELINE=HONG KONG

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: As the death toll from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome mounts in Hong Kong, doctors are trying more aggressive treatments on patients in hope of preventing their condition from deteriorating. V-O-A's Katherine Maria reports researchers say the SARS virus may have become more dangerous in Hong Kong.

TEXT: Hong Kong University said late Tuesday a virus believed responsible for SARS might have changed into a more deadly form.

Dr. Yuen Kwok-yung, the head of microbiology at the university, says one group of people in Hong Kong seems to be suffering from a more serious form of the disease.

/// YUEN ACT IN CANTONESE ACT EST &FADE ///

Dr. Yuen also says his research reveals the virus is not likely to have come from humans. He speculates the practice of eating exotic animals in southern China could have something to do with the pathogen's jump from animals to people.

In southern China, snakes, turtles, wild cats, anteaters, and other wild animals have been traditional delicacies.

Hong Kong has had 12-hundred-68 SARS cases. The city's death toll has risen by five, to 61. This week, deaths have climbed to five or more a day, after weeks in which only one or two patients a day died.

The increase in deaths and the fact that younger patients with no underlying medical problems are among the latest victims have prompted doctors to try more aggressive treatments.

Dr. Lo Wing-lok represents the medical profession in Hong Kong's legislature. He says doctors are using anti-viral drugs and steroids to treat patients, and the combination is effective in about 80-percent of patients.

/// LO ACT ///

The doctors have been trying to give more aggressive treatment and starting earlier. For example, steroids at a higher dose given intravenously. And because of that, the damage to the lungs has been reduced. And as a result this patient has better prognosis.

/// END ACT ///

As doctors struggle to save patients, Hong Kong's government is hoping to restore international confidence in its handling of the outbreak.

Starting just after midnight on Thursday, airline passengers leaving Hong Kong will walk through a thermo-imaging machine that detects body temperature. Those suspected of having a fever will be examined and may not be allowed to board their flights.

The World Health Organization says that about 32-hundred SARS cases and more than 150 deaths have been reported in 22 countries.

W-H-O officials are in China, where the virus is believed to have originated late last year. They are looking at patient records to better understand the cause and possible treatment for atypical pneumonia associated with SARS. (SIGNED)

NEB/HK/KM/KPD/RAE