Hong Kong's Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Dr. Yeoh
Eng-kiong urged people who had fever, chills and body ache to seek
medical treatment early because an early confirmation of the
contraction of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) would
produce good recovery rate.
Most of the people who failed to respond to the combination of
treatments now used in Hong Kong to combat the disease fell into
four main categories, he said on Saturday.
They had a pre-existing illness, aged 65 years or older, sought
treatment late in the course of the disease, or had an unusually
severe form of it.
The cumulative figure for patients who have been admitted to public
hospitals with SARS in Hong Kong since March 12 is 1,358.
(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2003)