SARS not new to India: expert

MYSORE: While the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome has triggered panic in South-East Asia, an expert feels the disease isn’t new to India.
Dr K.G. Yedurappa, the former professor of medicine and expert in respiratory disease, said it was detected and reported in 1967 itself. He was part of the research team that reported 11 SARS cases then.
Speaking to The Times of India, 74-year-old Yedurappa, spending his retired life in Mysore, says it was Col. Dr R. Vishwanathan, the doyen respiratory medicine in India who detected cases of ‘Primary Atypical Pneumonia’ (PAP) and studied them in detail. “SARS is the handiwork of a mutant virus of more than 30 viruses, which cause respiratory diseases and problems in humans,’’ he said. While the disease is primarily caused by corocea virus, secondary infection is by clamydia bacteria, he said. “Because of paucity of clinical findings, the diagnosis of the disease may be delayed.’’ He said Vishwanathan was the head of V.P. Chest Institute, New Delhi.
Eleven patients were suffering from non-specific inflammation of lungs with atypical symptoms. “SARS symptoms resemble the 11 cases reported then, which we named PAP,’’ he said. Some SARS symptoms are: thickening of alveolar walls with radiological opacity at the mid-zone and base of lungs, bronchial obstruction, tracheao bronchitis, irregular fever, mucoid and blood-tinged sputum. Urging the people not to panic, he said detection of the disease in early stages and its symptomatic treatment will give relief to the patient. “Treatment is purely symptomatic; a powder containing aspirin, phenactone ad caffeine will give better relief than any other modern specific anti-bacterial drugs,’’ he said. “In majority of the patients afflicted with the virus, cold agglutinisation test is positive,’’ he said, and added that dyspnoea (difficult breathing) will be witnessed in the final stages of the disease. “Fatality could be reduced considerably if symptomatic treatment is started in the early stages of infection,’’ he said.