The number of SARS cases in the country fell yesterday after six cases were reclassified, and National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) said it had developed a faster way of detecting antibodies to the disease.
With one new probable SARS case, the total stood at 679 yesterday, from 684 the day before. The number of deaths remained unchanged at 81.
The Department of Health(DOH) said it was significant for the country's bid to get the World Health Organization to lift its travel advisory on Taiwan that yesterday was the sixth day in a row there had been fewer that five new SARS cases.
The DOH yesterday also unveiled a new method of detecting SARS antibodies, called immunochromatography (ICT).
"With ICT, now it is much quicker and simpler to test whether a patient is infected with SARS," said Su Yi-jen (蘇益仁), director of the Center for Disease Control.
"It takes only 30 minutes to test whether a patient has the coronavirus," added Su.
Chen Pei-jer (
While less than 100 percent accurate, the new test detects SARS antibodies better than existing methods, Chen said.
Meanwhile, the DOH and National Taiwan University Medical School said yesterday that the source of the SARS outbreak at Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital did not originate from the Amoy Gardens Complex in Hong Kong.
It was thought that a woman named Tsao, who brought the disease to Hoping Hospital, contracted the disease from an Amoy resident surnamed Tseng while on a train to Taichung.
Tseng and the brother he was visiting in Taichung both died of the disease.
The medical school studied the virus' gene sequence and found that the specimen from Hoping Hospital was different from the one found at the Hong Kong apartment complex, which was linked to earlier cases in Taiwan.
"So far we still cannot nail down the source of the virus at Hoping," Chen said.
He said that Tseng, a Taiwanese businessman based in China called Chin who returned to Taiwan in March and NTUH doctor Tsai Tzu-Hsiu (蔡子修) had contracted the virus from a similar source. These cases were the first to be discovered in the country.
Cases found at Hoping Hospital, Jen Chi Hospital and a noodle vendor from Hsinchuang who was thought to have spread the disease at Mackay Hospital had a different source, Chen said.
The researchers said they didn't know whether knowledge of the gene sequence would help with treatment of the disease.
"We still don't know whether the sequences will tell us about how serious the disease is or whether the symptoms for every patient are the same, but we surely hope that this can help us to learn more about the epidemic and find better cures," said Yang Pan-chyr (楊泮池), director of the Department of Internal Medicine at NTUH.
Also see story:
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
RSS