SARS-Chlamydia

[Guest guest]

April4,2003

 

Dear Listmembers,

 

Today's on-line issue of the Hongkong Chinese language daily Sing Tao reported an interview with the head of the Chinese mainland Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Mr. Hong Tao , which revealed the results of forensic investigations on 5 bodies of people who have suffered and eventually died from aytpical pneumonia fei dian xing fei yan . Mr. Hong Tao revealed that the microorganism chlamydia had been isolated from the lungs, liver, spleen and kidneys of the five cadavers . The forensic investigation involved organ anatomical dissection and the use of the electronmicroscope. This led Mr. Hong Tao to conclude that aside from the corona virus chlamydia is also involved. The report did not indicate when and specifically where the forensic investigations were conducted.

 

Due to the fact that chlamydia contains RNA and DNA , classification of the microorganism is still vague. Some experts consider it to be a bacteria. The genus chlamydia divides into two strains- Chlamydia psittaci and chlamydia trachomatis. The first strain is implicated as the cause of a type of atypical pneumonia named psittacosis or parrot fever.

 

 

Rey Tiquia

Phd Candidate

Dept. of History and Philosophy of Science

University of Melbourne

Tel: (03) 94991362

[Guest guest]

Hi Elena,

 

> Hi Phil, May I share your comments on the SARS-Chlamydia with an

> avian veterinarian friend of mine? She is not an acupuncturist but I

> do some acupuncture for her on her patients. Thank you, Elena

 

Sure.

 

But be aware that SARS research is ongoing. It is early days yet.

However, in my bones, I feel that there may be something in the

SARS-Chlamydia link. It seems that a combination of viral AND

chlamidial challenge may manifest in SARS in susceptible people.

 

Human respiratory disease, esp pneumonia, has been linked to

psittacine birds before. If you want to keep on top of this, keep an

eye on the Google search engine at

http://www.google.com/advanced_search

 

In the ALL WORDS panel enter SARS and in the ANY WORDS

panel enter

cause causes bacteria viruses

OR Chlamydia*

OR etiolog*

OR aetiolog*

OR epidemiolog*

 

Also, keep an eye on Medline [

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/medline.html ] for the profile:

SARS OR severe-acute-respiratory-disease AND (epidemiolog*

OR cause OR causes OR etiolog* OR aetiolog*)

 

In contrast to Mainland Chinese claims, a Hong Kong report on

Medline has NOT yet linked SARS to Chlamydia. See:

 

N Engl J Med 2003 Apr 1; [epub ahead of print] A Cluster of Cases

of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in Hong Kong. Tsang KW,

Ho PL, Ooi GC, Yee WK, Wang T, Chan-Yeung M, Lam WK, Seto

WH, Yam LY, Cheung TM, Wong PC, Lam B, Ip MS, Chan J,

Yuen KY, Lai KN. Background Information on the clinical features

of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) will be of value to

physicians caring for patients suspected of having this disorder.

Methods We abstracted the clinical presentation and course of

disease in 10 epidemiologically linked Chinese patients (5 men and

5 women 38 to 72 years old) in whom SARS was diagnosed

between February 22, 2003, and March 22, 2003, at our hospitals

in Hong Kong, China. Results Exposure between the source

patient and subsequent patients ranged from minimal to that

between patient and health care provider. The incubation period

ranged from 2 to 11 days. All patients presented with fever

(temperature, >38 degrees C for over 24 hours), and most

presented with rigor, dry cough, dyspnea, malaise, headache, and

hypoxemia. Physical examination of the chest revealed crackles

and percussion dullness. Lymphopenia was observed in nine

patients, and most patients had mildly elevated aminotransferase

levels but normal serum creatinine levels. Serial chest radiographs

showed progressive air-space disease. Two patients died of

progressive respiratory failure; histologic analysis of their lungs

showed diffuse alveolar damage. There was no evidence of infection

by Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Chlamydia pneumoniae, or

Legionella pneumophila. All patients received corticosteroid and

ribavirin therapy a mean (+/-SD) of 9.6+/-5.42 days after the onset

of symptoms, and eight were treated earlier with a combination of

beta-lactams and macrolide for 4+/-1.9 days, with no clinical or

radiological efficacy. Conclusions SARS appears to be infectious in

origin. Fever followed by rapidly progressive respiratory

compromise is the key complex of signs and symptoms from

which the syndrome derives its name. The microbiologic origins of

SARS remain unclear. Notice: Because of possible public health

implications, this article has been published at www.nejm.org on

March 31, 2003. Click on " PDF of this article " for the full text.

Copyright 2003 Massachusetts Medical Society PMID: 12671062

[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

 

 

Best regards,

 

 

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