Suspected SARS patient negative for symptoms

TACLOBAN CITY — The Department of Health (DOH) here announced yesterday that "JP," the 47-year-old woman suspected to be afflicted with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), was found to be negative of the symptoms of the dreaded disease.

In a news conference, chief surgeon of the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) and SARS Center spokesman Alden Tabao said that based on her chest X-ray, JP did not have "pneumonia/pneumonitis" nor afternoon fever.

However, DOH officials refused to discharge JP without clearance from the DOH central office.

DOH regional director Dr. Milagros Bacus stressed that the findings do not mean that the patient is already free from SARS virus.

"She is still a probable SARS carrier because of the previous symptoms she experienced," Bacus emphasized.

Bacus said JP’s chest X-ray will be brought to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa City for confirmatory test.

JP, who arrived at Barangay Maybocog in Maydolong, Eastern Samar last April 14, has a known history of exposure to SARS in Hong Kong where she works as a domestic helper.

She was diagnosed to have pneumonia on April 15 in a private clinic in Borongan, Eastern Samar.

Dr. Nicolas Bautista, DOH chief of the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit who personally investigated the health status of the patient, said her fever rose to 39 degrees from April 20 to 23.

She was brought to EVRMC yesterday afternoon escorted by DOH officials and some policemen.

Her husband is also confined in a separate room at the SARS Center at EVRMC while her parents are now quarantined at their residence in Maydolong town.