Associated Press
http://www.theglobeandmail.com
January 15, 2004
Hong Kong — A new study has found people with a particular gene are much more susceptible to SARS, scientists said Thursday.
Researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong said they discovered people who have one specific genetic marker known as HLA-B*0703 have a far higher risk of contracting severe acute respiratory syndrome.
But those with another genetic marker, HLA-DRB1*0301, have more resistance against the respiratory disease, researchers said. HLA, or human leucocyte antigen, genes can produce proteins that appear on the surface of white blood cells.
“These two markers are very important in predicting the outcome of people who are in contact with this virus,” said Dr. Joseph Sung, director of the university's Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The study could help identify people who are at higher risk of catching the disease and would allow doctors to give more aggressive treatment to patients who are more likely to become severely ill, Dr. Sung said.
The study examined the blood samples of 90 SARS patients between the ages of 22 and 85 who were in hospital in Hong Kong between March and June last year. It compared the patients with Hong Kong's general population through samples obtained from 18,774 healthy bone-marrow donors.
Dr. Sung said the findings are preliminary and researchers are planning a larger-scale study, which could include tests on the families of SARS patients to see why some members become ill while others do not.
“The test still needs a lot of refinement and we need to look into the mechanism of why these markers are indicating a person's susceptibility,” he said.
The research findings will be published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, the researchers said.
Dr. John MacKenzie, who leads the World Health Organization's laboratory group on SARS, did not immediately reply to an e-mail seeking comment on the study.
SARS sickened more than 8,000 people worldwide and killed 774, including 44 in Canada, after it first emerged in southern China in late 2002. In Hong Kong, 1,755 people were sickened and 299 died.
This season, China has identified one confirmed and two suspected cases of SARS amid fears the disease may spread again.
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