SARS avoids children but severe in adults

WASHINGTON, April 11 (UPI) -- Health officials said Friday severe acute respiratory syndrome, the disease that is quickly spreading around the world, appears to spare children in most cases.

Officials also noted adults who are most at risk of dying from the disease also tend to suffer from other, underlying illnesses.

"On the basis of present data, children appear to be less likely to present with SARS than adults," the World Health Organization said in a written statement.

"Most SARS cases to date have occurred in young adults," WHO said. "This transmission pattern largely reflects the age of health care workers, their family members and social contacts, and international travelers," the groups who have made up most, if not all, of the cases thus far.

This pattern also holds true in the United States, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Of the 166 U.S. cases reported to date, 135 are adults over the age of 18. Only about 25 of the cases occurred in children, of whom 15 were under age 4, and 10 were children ranging in age from 5 to 17.

California, with 37 SARS cases, continued to report the most cases of any of the 30 states so far affected by the disease. New York had the second highest total with 21, followed by Washington with 14, Florida with 11 and Illinois with seven. Several other states reported six or fewer cases.

Worldwide, total SARS cases increased by 109 Friday and deaths from the disease climbed to 116. To date, 2,890 cases have been reported in 20 countries, according to WHO.

The vast majority of those who become infected -- 96 percent --"are getting better," Dr. Mark Salter, a medical officer at WHO's communicable disease surveillance and response team, said during a news briefing in Geneva.

About 10 percent "require intensive care therapy" and 4 percent are dying, Salter said. These people "are usually slightly older, over 40 years old, and ... at the time of presentation with the symptoms of SARS, they have other underlying medical conditions, such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and other chronic lung problems."

SARS cases continued to pop up in new regions of the world Friday. Indonesia and the Philippines both reported their first suspected cases of the disease and a suspected case reported in South Africa on Thursday is now included in WHO's figures.

WHO officials said the new cases don't necessarily indicate the continued spread of SARS but instead reflect increased awareness about the disease.

"The list of countries and continents reporting suspect or probable SARS cases will no doubt continue to grow due to heightened global vigilance, knowledge about symptoms and exposures, and awareness of the need for immediate isolation of cases and strict infection control," WHO's Executive Director of communicable diseases Dr. David Heymann said in a written statement.

However, Heymann added: "So long as these (control) measures are followed, the detection of first cases in countries need not be interpreted as evidence that SARS is continuing to spread."

He noted prompt isolation of patients and other infection control measures have prevented further spread of the disease in countries having only one or a few imported cases.

Officials in Kazakhstan continued to investigate that country's first suspected SARS case Friday, but it appeared as if the case could turn out to be the flu.

Laboratory findings have not confirmed the Kazakh suspected case of SARS, Kazakhstan's chief sanitarian Anatoliy Belonog said. The Kazakh Khabar news agency also reported the man was infected with a strain of the flu virus.