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Mutated virus strikes?

HONG KONG APRIL 14. Doctors in Hong Kong on Monday started prescribing heavier doses of medicine during the early stages of SARS after the surprise deaths of six relatively young patients with no other illnesses.However, one expert voiced fears that the virus believed to be causing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has mutated. Hong Kong on Monday reported seven new SARS deaths, for a total of 47. Many of the fatalities have been elderly people or patients suffering from other chronic health problems, such as heart or kidney diseases. But six people, whose deaths were reported over the weekend, ranged in age from 35 to 52 and had no prior health problems.

The acting director of the Hospital Authority, Ko Wing-man, said were increasing the dosage and applying the treatment earlier to try to cure people before they have to receive intensive care. But he warned of potentially severe side-effects including heart, blood and kidney problems. Despite efforts to find an effective treatment for the disease, an expert expressed concern that the virus has mutated after he observed that patients at the Prince of Wales Hospital, which was hard-hit by a SARS outbreak, displayed differences in infectiousness, symptoms and the severity of their illness. Preliminary investigations revealed that the coronavirus, believed to be causing SARS, has ``mutated, but not to a great extent,'' said the biochemist, Stephen Tsui of the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Monday.— AP

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