香港特別行政區政府 �壎芵p 香港灣仔皇后大道東213號 胡忠大廈17及21樓

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH WU CHUNG HOUSE, 17th & 21st FLOORS, 213 QUEEN'S ROAD EAST, WAN CHAI HONG KONG

Suspected SARS case in Singapore

I would like to bring your attention to a suspected SARS case in Singapore. A man was hospitalized for fever in Singapore with preliminary test positive for SARS coronavirus. Further tests are being done in Singapore to confirm the preliminary diagnosis. Department of Health has contacted the Ministry of Health, Singapore for more information and will keep you posted of new development. The Department of Health will closely monitor the situation. In view of the Singaporean experience, please maintain due vigilance in infection control measures in your health care facility and laboratory, and maintain good staff sickness records, and report to the Department of Health of any suspected SARS case or acute respiratory illness outbreak (even those with relatively mild symptoms) for further investigations.

Advice and information for health care professionals can be found in the DH website: https://www.info.gov.hk/info/sars/e_profession.htm

For prevention of respiratory tract infection, please advise your clients to adopt the following measures:

• Build up good body immunity by having a proper diet, regular exercise and adequate rest, reducing stress and avoiding smoking;
• Maintain good personal hygiene, and wash hands after sneezing, coughing or cleaning the nose;
• Maintain good ventilation;
• Avoid visiting crowded places with poor ventilation;
• Consult a doctor promptly if they develop respiratory symptoms;
• Put on a mask if suffering from respiratory tract infection to reduce the chance of spreading the infection to people around them; and
• Put on a mask if taking care of a patient with respiratory symptoms and wash hands thoroughly afterwards.

香港特別行政區政府 �壎芵p 香港灣仔皇后大道東213號 胡忠大廈17及21樓

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH WU CHUNG HOUSE, 17th & 21st FLOORS, 213 QUEEN'S ROAD EAST, WAN CHAI HONG KONG

A Probable SARS Case in Singapore

Further to my letter "Suspected SARS case in Singapore" on 9 September 2003, I would like to provide you with an update. In the afternoon on 9 September, the Ministry of Health, Singapore reported a probable SARS case involving a 27-year-old laboratory worker. The man had onset of fever on 26 August 2003 around midnight. On admission to hospital on 3 September, he had fever, muscle aches and joint pain, and he developed dry cough after admission. Three serial chest x-rays were all normal. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and serology test results were positive for SARS coronavirus on 8 September. A repeat of his PCR tests in another laboratory on 9 September was also positive. Fever had subsided and the patient remains well. His close contacts have been put under home quarantine order. No other laboratory co-workers have fever or feel unwell.

The clinical picture does not meet the World Health Organization clinical case definition of SARS but there is laboratory evidence of SARS coronavirus infection. According to the Ministry of Health, Singapore, the patient has no history of travel to previously SARS-affected areas and no known contact with SARS patients, and this appears to be a single, isolated case. Investigation into the source of infection is underway.

In view of the Singaporean experience, besides the health care professionals, the Department of Health has also alerted the private hospitals and the laboratories of Hospital Authority, the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong to the incident and reminded them to maintain vigilance in infection control and disease reporting. In Hong Kong, surveillance and preventive measures against SARS have been kept in place. Stringent health screening measures at border control points are on-going. Since 9 September, the Department of Health has been distributing Health Alert Card and information leaflet to airline passengers arriving from or departing for Singapore, and has deployed health care staff to watch out for ill persons among these passengers. We will closely monitor the situation.