Who says Pinay from HK unlikely to have SARS

The World Health Organization said yesterday it was unlikely that a Filipino woman was suffering from SARS, as health officials reported that she and her husband were showing signs of recovery.

Blood test results for the 42-year-old woman — who developed a fever and pneumonia days after returning from Hong Kong on Dec. 20 — and for her husband were expected today, officials said.

"Up to now, there is no SARS transmission in Hong Kong," WHO country representative Jean Marc Olive told reporters. "It would be (a) very, very remote possibility that it’s SARS."

Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit said the woman still had pneumonia yesterday, but she no longer had a fever — "a significant sign that she is on the road to recovery." The woman’s husband was coughing occasionally, but was also fever-free, Dayrit said.

"What is important is the person is recovering, and the most important is that all measures have been taken by the Department of Health to ensure that there is no secondary transmission from this case," Olive said.

"The chance of secondary transmission is very remote," he said.

Dayrit said all 34 contacts at the Laguna provincial hospital, where the woman was first admitted last month, have been identified and counseled, and told to stay home as a precaution. None have shown signs of SARS symptoms.

Others under observation include the couple’s three children and another person from their village. They’ve also been confined to their homes in Laguna, and have not exhibited any SARS symptoms, said Dr. Troy Hepte of the DOH’s National Epidemiology Center.

President Arroyo assured the jittery public that the suspected SARS case has not yet been confirmed, and that her government was prepared to deal with the SARS threat should it reappear in the country.

"The air and sea ports are on alert," Mrs. Arroyo said in a statement. "We have the proper facilities to isolate and treat any cases."

Manila international airport general manager Edgar Manda said medical checks on passengers arriving from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore were being stepped up, and the airport ordered three more thermal scanners in addition to about a dozen already in place.

According to Hepte, the Filipino woman who has been isolated in a government hospital together with her husband has no recollection of coming in contact in Hong Kong with anyone exhibiting SARS symptoms.

But authorities were still tracing her contacts there.

Last year, the Philippines reported 12 SARS cases, including two deaths. All but four cases were traced back to a Filipino nurse who contracted the virus in Toronto, Canada, and infected her father after returning home. Both died. — AP, Sheila Crisostomo, Marichu Villanueva, Arnell Ozaeta