A 52-year-old Macao resident was put under isolation care for pneumonia, and his respiratory secretion sample was sent to Hong Kong for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) test Thursday, announced the Health Service of the Macao government.
The man is the third patient admitted to isolation wards of the Macao Government Hospital for suspected symptoms of SARS. The man traveled to Hong Kong on April 12, and returned the same day. He started to have fever and soar throat on April 20, and consulted a private doctor the following day.
He went to the Kiang Wu Hospital on April 23 as symptoms sustained despite medication, when he had a fever of 38 degree Celsius. As X-ray images had revealed signs of pneumonia, possibility of SARS could not be ruled out although counts of his white blood cells appeared to rise, according to doctors with the hospital. He was soon sent to the isolation ward of the Government Hospital.
Samples of his sputum and excrement were sent for PCR testing in the Hong Kong Medical Department.
The Health Service said there is no need to isolate the man's co-workers, while all five members of the patient's family and a housekeeper were arranged to be isolated at home although they were all in good health.
Earlier this week, the first suspected patient, a 38-year-old saleslady, had got her PCR test result negative of SARS. Result of the sample test of a Dutch student will be available Thursday. So far, all the three patients are kept under clinical observation.
On Wednesday, the Health Bureau in Zhuhai City, south China's Guangdong province, which is adjacent to Macao across the border checkpoint of Gongbei, notified its counterpart in Macao about the first confirmed SARS case it has found.
Macao started on Thursday to step up quarantine checks at the checkpoint, which handles some 100,000 passengers on average daily.
Under the new measures, all people whose body temperature measures over 38 degree Celsius will have to be isolated and subjected to X-ray and blood tests. It is up to doctors to decide whether the patient would go to the isolation care unit or the ordinary emergency room.
The Macao government has made an all-out effort to control the disease. A disinfection center will be put into operation within two weeks. With a floor space of 1,760 square meters, the center located far away from residential areas is expected to be used to disinfect automobiles and personnel who had contacts with SARS patients.
(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2003)
