Press Release

Situation report on atypical pneumonia

May 1, 2003

The following is jointly issued by the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority:

As at 1 pm today (May 1), there is an additional 11 patients confirmed to have atypical pneumonia following admission to public hospitals earlier. They include two healthcare workers (from Prince of Wales Hospital). The remaining 9 are other patients and contacts of patients with atypical pneumonia.

A total of 834 patients have recovered from atypical pneumonia and have been discharged from public hospitals. Of them, 43 were discharged today. There are also 102 recovering patients who are in convalescence and preparation for discharge.

Most of the patients currently in hospital are showing positive responses to the new treatment protocol. Eighty-eight patients are receiving treatment in intensive care unit.

Five patients died in Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital (AHNH), Wong Tai Sin Hospital(WTSH) and Kwong Wah Hospital (KWH). This brought to 162 the total number of deaths relating to atypical pneumonia.

The deceased include five men who are aged from 34 to 83. Their information is as follows:

Hospital

Patient's gender

Age

PMH

male ^#

male

AHNH

male ^#

WTSH

male ^#

KWH

male ^#

# denotes patient with a history of chronic diseases

The cumulative figure for patients who have been admitted to public hospitals with atypical pneumonia since March 12 is as follows:

Nature

Cumulative Number

Total No. of Discharged Patients

Total No. of
Deaths ^*

Health care workers of Hospitals/Clinics and medical students

360 ( up by

194 ( up by

13)

162 ( up by

Patients, family members & visitors

1240 ( up by

640 ( up by

30)

Total

1600 ( up by

11) **

834 ( up by

43)

Suspected cases

Most of the deaths occurred in individuals who have a history of chronic diseases, or were patients who sought treatment at a relatively late stage of infection.

There are 102 recovering patients in convalescence.

01 May 2003