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SARS relapses stump doctors
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Mutations of the SARS virus and relapses among patients are worrying scientists trying to understand the disease, as the number of deaths in the past month increases five-fold. Ten new cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome and nine deaths were reported in Hong Kong on Saturday, bringing to 1,621 the number of infections recorded in the former British colony. A total of 179 people have died from SARS there, while almost 900 have been discharged. In Toronto, Canada -- which has the largest outbreak outside Asia -- city health officials insist SARS is under control after no new cases were reported Friday. Canadian health chiefs also rejected a critique of their reporting by an unidentified World Health Organization official, cited in The New York Times. The article referred to Health Canada's report Wednesday to the W.H.O. of a possible SARS case in Toronto -- one day after the world health body lifted a travel advisory based on the city's record of containing SARS' spread. "All along, we've been open, transparent and consistent with our practices," Dr. Colin D'Cunha, Ontario's commissioner of public health, told reporters. "It certainly frustrates me." D'Cunha said the case -- in a health care worker -- was diagnosed around midnight Monday, but by the time the case was reported to Health Canada it was noon Tuesday and details could not be passed to the W.H.O. in Geneva, Switzerland, which is six hours ahead of Ontario and had closed for the day. The Canadian city has had 140 probable cases and 23 SARS deaths. Doctors at the Chinese University of Hong Kong said two forms of SARS have hit the Chinese territory, which could complicate efforts to develop a diagnosis and vaccine. "This rapid evolution is like that of a murderer who is trying to change his fingertips or even his appearance to try to escape detection," Dr. Dennis Lo said. Lo added more research is needed to determine whether the virus has become more infectious or deadly. Also worrying scientists is at least a dozen cases of SARS relapses among discharged patients. Hong Kong's Health Secretary Dr. Yeoh Eng-kiong admitted in a radio interview on Saturday that authorities did not respond quickly enough to the SARS outbreak, but said it was because little was known about the disease. Now, recent figures back a declaration from the W.H.O. that the SARS outbreak had peaked in Hong Kong. But in mainland China, SARS cases continue to mount. Another 181 new cases and 9 more deaths in China were reported on Saturday. Most cases and deaths have been reported in the capital, Beijing, So far around 1,600 people have been infected with SARS and 96 have died from it in China's hardest-hit mainland city to date. Beijing authorities are hoping isolation may help. They have opened a new 1,000-bed hospital to handle patients with the virus and barricaded some roads as patients were being transferred. The Xiaotangshan Hospital threw open its doors after more than 7,000 builders worked feverishly to erect the structure in just eight days. China's central government has also reversed its stance and agreed to allow the W.H.O. to send experts to Taiwan to assess the SARS outbreak there. China, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province, has blocked efforts by the island to join the United Nations as an independent country. Taiwan has complained that is behind a lack of response from the W.H.O. to its requests for help against SARS. Taiwan authorities have reported nearly 100 SARS cases. There were five new fatalities Friday. Globally, more than 400 have died from SARS, and more than 6,000 people have been infected.
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