Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

MAINLAND CHINA: Chlamydia arrowed as culprit [SARS]
Straits Times ^ | 2003-04-06 | By Jason Leow

Posted on 04/05/2003 4:08:17 PM PST by Lessismore

BEIJING - Chinese experts believe a chlamydia-like organism could be the 'prime culprit' of Sars, but the World Health Organisation (WHO) says only further research can prove chlamydia is responsible for the contagion.

The China Daily yesterday quoted doctors from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as saying they had traced airborne chlamydia - a virus usually contracted through sexual contact - in the bodies of five Sars victims.

Chlamydia 'can be basically confirmed as the prime culprit of the disease', CDC director Li Liming said.

Experts abroad believe the main cause is a new strain of coronavirus, usually found in animals, and this claim is pointing the way for researchers in the United States to work towards a vaccine.

While Chinese experts have not ruled out coronavirus, the local media has already hailed as a 'breakthrough' the discovery of chlamydia as the likely cause of Sars, which has killed at least 86 people from Asia to North America.

But a four-member WHO team now in Guangzhou called on China's experts to review their findings and said the illness might involve several viruses, including chlamydia, or bacteria.

WHO spokesman Chris Powell told The Sunday Times:

'There is no major disagreement with the Chinese. It is true there is chlamydia in the victims.

'But what role the chlamydia plays is uncertain. More investigation is needed to see if it is responsible for the infection or if it acts as a co-factor.'

There has been considerable speculation that many unlicensed animal farms in the rural districts of Guangdong province were the original breeding ground for a strain that mutated and infected human beings.

But WHO team leader Robert Breiman told the Associated Press that no link to animals has been established, as most Chinese Sars victims had been city dwellers.

Separately, WHO's infectious diseases chief David Heymann was quoted by Reuters as saying in Spain that the virus should be identified within weeks. But an important next step was to develop a test to identify carriers who possibly did not show symptoms.

A vaccine, however, was a 'long time' away, he added.

What the WHO team in Guangdong is hoping to be able to get soon are laboratory samples from the health authorities so that the process of identifying the culprit bug can proceed.

The team spent a third day in the southern Chinese province, having already visited the city of Foshan - thought to be where the very first cases originated last November.

Since then there have been 47 reported deaths in China and more than 1,200 others have been affected.

The Chinese media has also begun a belated Sars public education campaign, highlighting the illness and offering public health advice, in contrast to the previous weeks when little was reported on it.


TOPICS: Front Page News
KEYWORDS: bacteria; china; chlamydia; sars; vaccine; virus

1 posted on 04/05/2003 4:08:17 PM PST by Lessismore
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Lessismore
Didn't the Chinese about 5-8 years have to kill their chickens because of an outbreak of some dreaded disease? And now SARS? Makes a person wonder what China is up to biologically speaking?
2 posted on 04/05/2003 4:12:37 PM PST by lilylangtree
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lessismore
Has chlamydia been found in victims outside China?
3 posted on 04/05/2003 4:14:50 PM PST by per loin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lessismore
...chlamydia - a virus usually contracted through sexual contact

Chlamydia is a bacterium, not a virus. I wonder if the rest of this article is as accurate as the above.

4 posted on 04/05/2003 4:15:55 PM PST by jalisco555
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lessismore
Isn't chlamydia one of those organisms that take opportunistic advantage of weakened systems?
5 posted on 04/05/2003 4:17:27 PM PST by Jeff Chandler ( ;)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lessismore
In a thread in March about this, I indicated that this disease was transmittable by sex. Looks like I hit the nail on the head!
6 posted on 04/05/2003 4:20:37 PM PST by 1stFreedom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lessismore
"The China Daily yesterday quoted doctors from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as saying they had traced airborne chlamydia - a virus usually contracted through sexual contact - in the bodies of five Sars victims."

Wrong. Chlamydia is a bacterium that is usually passed sexually. It is not a virus.
It has been known to be responsible for Pelvic Inflamatory Disease
in women and to cause sterility in men and women. Many people who are
infected don't present symptoms until the damage has been done.

7 posted on 04/05/2003 4:26:27 PM PST by StormEye
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lessismore
There's more than one kind of that critter. Chlamydia pneumoniae is a widespread pathogen that causes pneumonia and bronchitis. It is even believed to play a role in arteriosclerosis. I think the reporters saw the 'C' word and jumped to conclusions. They just wanted to report on airborne VD.
8 posted on 04/05/2003 4:37:56 PM PST by thatdewd
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: StormEye
Isn't it rumored that Bill Clinton ...undisclosed medical records....

Guess China didn't heed the warnings about making deals with the bent one.

9 posted on 04/05/2003 4:38:16 PM PST by Calvin Locke
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: jalisco555
Chlamydia is a genus of bacteria. One species is Chlamydia pneumoniae, which causes the disease Pneumonia. It is not transmitted sexually.

Chlamydia trachomatis is the sexually transmitted disease.

Chlamydia psittaci causes "Parrot Fever" or "psittacosis", and is caught from birds. I don't think it is transmitted sexually, but having sex with an infected parrot would be a bad thing.

10 posted on 04/05/2003 4:46:08 PM PST by Lessismore
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: per loin
The chlamydia theory seems to come only from China.

The other virus that was an early contender was a paramyxovirus. IIRC that was reported by Hong Kong, German, and Canadian labs.

However, after the US CDC identified coronavirus, the others are much less mentioned.

I'm not sure they really know yet.

11 posted on 04/05/2003 4:56:42 PM PST by Lessismore
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

Comment #12 Removed by Moderator

To: Yehuda
"I was just wondering if you were my son."

ROFLMAO!

13 posted on 04/05/2003 5:22:04 PM PST by thatdewd
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: thatdewd
Chlamydia is a bacteria easily killed by a number of antibiotics. I doubt the accuracy of this article if it confuses viruses and bacteria. BIG difference.
14 posted on 04/05/2003 9:03:34 PM PST by lainde
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Lessismore
"....but having sex with an infected parrot would be a bad thing."

Not to mention noisy.

15 posted on 04/06/2003 12:48:22 AM PST by Yaron
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: jalisco555; Lessismore
Singapore's Straits Times is the propaganda organ of Singapore's Lee-dynasty dictatorship and it's "reporters" are prize winning graduates of the Joe Goebbels' Memorial School of Telling the Slaves They Are Really FRee -- and Of Course the Emporer is Clothed.

Take whatever it says as if you read it in Alice in Wonderland.
16 posted on 04/06/2003 3:05:53 AM PDT by Brian Allen (I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny ....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

Comment #17 Removed by Moderator

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson