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London (pte039/07.05.2003/14:46) - The first detailed study on the spread of the SARS virus has shown that the death rate is much higher than assumed up to now. In Hong Kong nearly every fifth SARS patient admitted to hospital dies from the disease.
The death rate among patients over 60 is even higher - at up to 55 per cent. These findings were collected by experts under London virologist Roy Anderson and published in the British professional journal Lancet http://www.thelancet.com .
The World Health Organization had previously estimated the death rate at five per cent. Based on a sample of 1,425 cases, the new study puts the death rate at 20 per cent.
Anderon, who is a professor at Imperial College http://www.ic.ac.uk has called the findings important to the identification and treatment of new cases and to the prevention of the further spread of the disease.
The study, which covers a period of nine months after the outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong, also shows that the average age of people brought into Hong Kong Hospitals with SARS is 50 years.
Nearly 200 people have fallen victim to the disease in Hong Kong. A rapid diagnosis of SARS could become more difficult in the summer when the risk of coming down with Dengue fever and flu is higher. (newsfox-special SARS)
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