SARS SURVIVORS MAY HAVE BONE DISEASE
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2003 7:17 am
SARS survivors may have bone disease
About 100 former SARS patients in Hong Kong may have bone problems due to the high doses of steroids used to treat them, health officials say.
The bone abnormalities were found by screening former SARS patients using magnetic resonance imaging, the Hospital Authority said in a statement. It did not specify what the abnormalities were.
Doctors in Beijing have spotted similar symptoms in their former SARS patients.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome killed 299 people in Hong Kong and sickened 1,755 during an outbreak from March to May. Patients were given an antiviral drug and steroids - a treatment that some experts warned could cause serious side effects.
Hospital Authority official Daisy Dai told lawmakers that the 100 people may have avascular necrosis - a degenerative bone disorder - because of the heavy steroid dosages they received, according to legislator Dr. Lo Wing-lok.
Neither Dai nor Tuesday's statement said how many former patients had been checked.
But Lo said he expected the number of former SARS patients with bone damage would be higher than the 100 cited by health authority.
Researchers said on Saturday that some SARS survivors have developed the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis, possibly due to steroid treatment.
About 100 former SARS patients in Hong Kong may have bone problems due to the high doses of steroids used to treat them, health officials say.
The bone abnormalities were found by screening former SARS patients using magnetic resonance imaging, the Hospital Authority said in a statement. It did not specify what the abnormalities were.
Doctors in Beijing have spotted similar symptoms in their former SARS patients.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome killed 299 people in Hong Kong and sickened 1,755 during an outbreak from March to May. Patients were given an antiviral drug and steroids - a treatment that some experts warned could cause serious side effects.
Hospital Authority official Daisy Dai told lawmakers that the 100 people may have avascular necrosis - a degenerative bone disorder - because of the heavy steroid dosages they received, according to legislator Dr. Lo Wing-lok.
Neither Dai nor Tuesday's statement said how many former patients had been checked.
But Lo said he expected the number of former SARS patients with bone damage would be higher than the 100 cited by health authority.
Researchers said on Saturday that some SARS survivors have developed the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis, possibly due to steroid treatment.
How sad!