Press Release - March 24, 2003

An international conference on atypical pneumonia will be organised in Hong Kong next week, the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, said today (March 24) as he listed four major points on containing the spread of atypical pneumonia.

The World Health Organisation (Western Pacific Region) would invite representatives from Vietnam, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Singapore to attend a meeting in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region next week to discuss the disease.

Dr. Yeoh said that he had reported to the HKSAR Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, the present situation of the infection and the strategies and initiatives to control the spread of the infection. Mr Tung fully supported the view that public health was the government's first priority task.

Every person in the community would have to help in the fight against the disease and advice would be disseminated widely through the media, District Offices, various chambers, announcements of public interest and Government bodies.

Individuals had a very active part to play, he said. Everyone should wash their hands after touching any surface or object in the environment, using the bathroom, and before eating. We should also avoid touching the eyes, nose or mouth, to wear masks if coughing and to stay home if suffering from fever or a cough.

Dr Yeoh called on employers to facilitate workers to take sick leave and he was sure school authorities would cooperate for students calling in sick with the virus symptoms: fever and a cough.

He also stressed that discrimination against sufferers or their families would not help tackle the disease, adding: "Discrimination itself helps undermine our work in dealing with issues."

People who were discriminated against would often not go to seek help, he said.

Updating the number of cases, Dr Yeoh said there were 260 atypical pneumonia patients, 18 more than on Sunday (March 23), plus another five people who were being kept under observation, bringing the total number of confirmed and suspected cases to 265.

Of these, 38 were in intensive care, the same number as the previous day, and the total number of affected medical students remained at 17.

Two more people had died: an elderly man who was also suffering from a blood disorder and a man in his 40s who had hepatitis.

Dr Yeoh said that 85 per cent of patients who were given ribavirin/steroid treatment early improved. Five patients had been discharged from hospitals.

For some patients who had not responded to the ribavirin/steroid treatment were showing encouraging improvements after being treated with convalescent serum made from the plasma of people who had recovered from the atypical pneumonia.

For updated information and latest news on respiratory tract infections, please visit the special home page on the subject at www.info.gov.hk/info/infection-e.htm, and the HKSAR Department of Health website at www.info.gov.hk/dh/ap.htm as well as the e-bulletin at www.news.gov.hk/en/index.shtml.