Skip to comments.

Posted on 04/14/2003 9:53:57 AM PDT by IvanT

No truly new cases: Discovery of genome sequence should lead to detection test

TORONTO - A Canadian scientific breakthrough in the race to combat SARS may enable health authorities to develop reliable tests and possibly a vaccine to stem the spread of a disease that claimed three more deaths in the country over the weekend.

The number of Canadian fatalities from severe acute respiratory syndrome jumped to 13 after three elderly women, all of them in hospitals in the Toronto area, succumbed to the virus.

Health officials maintain that even with these deaths, and more than a dozen additional Canadian cases registered over the weekend, they do not believe they are seeing any truly new cases, since all of the new victims have links to known sources of SARS.

It has now been about a month since the world first learned about the mysterious flu-like virus that has killed 128 people and infected nearly 3,200 around the world.

With the announcement that a team of scientists in British Columbia has cracked the genetic sequence of the virus believed to cause SARS, however, there is now a sense that despite a death toll and caseload that continues to mount, the momentum of the battle against the disease has turned in favour of health authorities.

About 30 scientists at the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre set aside their regular cancer research for the past week and worked around the clock to unravel the genetic code in what the World Health Organization calls ''an extraordinary step,'' and in a speedy timeline that most experts say is unprecedented.

''It all worked better and faster than even we had expected,'' said Dr. Robert Holt, head of sequencing at the B.C. research centre, which has posted its findings on its Web site to help scientists and health researchers around the world who are struggling to contain the contagious disease.

Dick Thompson, of the WHO, said the pace of tracking this emerging disease has been incredible: "If you want to compare it to the last emerging disease, you have to compare it to AIDS. It took three years to find the cause of AIDS and HIV. It took eight days to find the cause of this disease."

The B.C. team completed the first publicly available sequencing for the coronavirus, which is linked to the common cold and is the leading candidate for causing SARS, at 4 a.m. on Saturday.

Dr. Holt said he expects that scientific and health authorities were immediately using the new information to produce a non-invasive diagnostic test, requiring only a saliva sample, which will quickly determine whether a potential patient has SARS and help in segregating those affected by the disease.

The sequencing of the genome may also help scientists explain how the virus, which is one of many that causes colds, mutated into something so deadly.

More than 3,000 people in 30 countries are believed to be suffering with the known SARS symptoms of a very high fever, difficulty breathing and a dry cough. There was a sharp jump in deaths in Hong Kong yesterday, bringing the total to 40, and suggesting the disease is still far from being contained in the Asian city that has been hardest hit by SARS.

Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways said it could soon ground its fleet if the situation gets any worse, with reports the company is losing US$3-million a day from reduced passenger numbers.

In Canada, the nationwide total of probable and suspected cases is 283, including the 13 deaths, making it the place most severely affected by the outbreak outside Asia.

The vast majority of those cases, 232, and all of the deaths, have occurred in Ontario. There have also been cases scattered throughout the country, in British Columbia (39), Alberta (five), Prince Edward Island (four), New Brunswick (four) and Saskatchewan (one).

The Canadian cases have been concentrated in the Toronto area, which had another hospital close its doors because of the disease over the weekend.

Markham-Stouffville Hospital, north of the city, closed its emergency department after it was inundated with SARS patients who would otherwise have visited two facilities already forced to close their doors because of the disease.

Scarborough Grace Hospital and York Central Hospital have both been temporarily shut down by SARS, and even the Markham hospital has 12 SARS patients in isolation, including two in critical condition.

Dr. Donald Low, chief of microbiology at Mount Sinai Hospital, said closing emergency is sometimes the only way hospitals can cope with the double burden of increased patient overflow and fewer staff on hand because of the sickness.

Raise Your Hand If You Want To Donate To Free Republic!
	Donate Here By Secure Server Or mail checks to FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794 or you can use PayPal at Jimrob@psnw.com
STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD- It is in the breaking news sidebar!

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.