SARS Patients and Need for Treatment
Abstract
To the Editor: We read with interest the case report by Wong et al. (1). Three similar cases of serologically confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) were treated in our hospital; all of the patients recovered uneventfully without specific treatment. They had either negative results on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for SARS-associated coronavirus (SAR-CoV), or they were admitted when such rapid diagnostic tests were not yet available; hence, SARS-specific treatment was not prescribed.
The first patient was a 35-year-old, previously healthy female tourist from Guangzhou, China, who was admitted to our hospital in late February 2003. She had visited several family members who had atypical pneumonia; some eventually died from the disease. The patient had fever, chills, and dry cough approximately l week after exposure but experienced no mylagia, diarrhea, or shortness of breath. On physical examination, scanty crepitations were heard in her right lower chest, and chest radiographs showed right lower zone consolidation. Blood tests showed a slightly low platelet count of 119 x 109/L and mildly elevated alanine transaminase at 59 U/L (normal <55 U/L), but total and differential leukocyte counts were normal. Tests for etiologic agents included blood and sputum bacterial cultures; sputum for acid-fast bacilli; and nasopharyngeal aspirates for influenza, parainfluenza, adenovirus, and respiratory syncytical virus. Serologic titers for Mycoplasma, Chlamydia…
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