Susceptibility to SARS could be related to genetics, a hematologist at Mackay Memorial Hospital said yesterday.
Dr. Marie Lin (林媽利), of Mackay's Transfusion Medicine Laboratory, said no theories expounded during the height of the SARS outbreaks could explain why some people did not contract the illness even though they had close contact with SARS patients, while others fell victim to the epidemic easily with only short and vaguely defined encounters with patients.
Doctors have had little idea of why some people only developed slight flu-like symptoms after being infected by SARS while others died, Lin said at a press conference to make public her findings about the relationship between SARS and human genes.
Lin said that after comparing hundreds of blood samples from SARS patients, she and her team found that people with the human leucocype antigen (HLA)-B46 gene are most likely to fall victim to SARS, while people with the HLA-B13 gene are relatively immune to the SARS virus.
Lin said that about 10 percent of Taiwan's population have the HLA-B46 gene. These people share the gene with "southern Asians," including people from China's southern coastal provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, Hong Kong, Singapore and part of Vietnam, where people have maintained close genetic connections over the past 400 years, she added.
She said many SARS patients were relatives or members of the same families, indicating that blood relations might have been one of the factors causing the transmission of the disease.
Meanwhile, she continued, none of Taiwan's Aboriginal people fell victim to SARS.
Aborigines were unaffected by SARS because this group of people have genetic make-ups totally different from those of the "southern Asians" and do not have the SARS-prone HLA-B46 gene, Lin said.
She said that although some Canadian nationals were hit by SARS, a great majority of them were of Chinese descent, originating from Hong Kong or southern China.
Explaining why many people in Beijing contracted SARS, Lin attributed this development to demographic changes in the capital city as a result of the Cultural Revolution, during which the entire Chinese population experienced forced immigration, and the fact that many residents of southern China have migrated to Beijing for business or education purposes in recent years.
Lin said the purpose of her laboratory's blood research is mainly to find an effective method of SARS prevention before the disease can make a reappearance this winter.
If necessary, medical care workers can contact the Mackay Transfusion Medicine Lab for test doses that can screen blood to find out who has the HLA-B46 gene so that they can take precautions to avoid being infected, she added.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old