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The following is jointly issued by the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority:

As at 1 pm today (April 24), there is an additional 30 patients confirmed to have atypical pneumonia following admission to public hospitals earlier. They include three healthcare workers (one from Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital, one from St Teresa's Hospital, one from Baptist Hospital). The remaining 27 are other patients and contacts of patients with atypical pneumonia.

A total of 567 patients have recovered from atypical pneumonia and have been discharged from public hospitals. Of them, 45 were discharged today. There are also 135 recovering patients who are in convalescence and preparation for discharge.

Most of the patients currently in hospital are showing positive responses to the new treatment protocol. One hundred and eight patients are receiving treatment in intensive care unit.

Four male patients died in Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital (AHNH), Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), Tuen Mun Hospital (TMH) and Tai Po Hospital (TPH). This brought to 109 the total number of deaths relating to atypical pneumonia.

The deceased are aged from 39 to 87 and all have a history of chronic disease. Their information is as follows:

 Hospital        Patient's gender            Age
 AHNH                    male*                   64
 PMH                      male*                  39
 TMH                      male*                  87
 TPH                      male*                  71

*denotes patient with a history of chronic disease

The cumulative figure for patients who have been admitted to public hospitals with atypical pneumonia since March 12 is as follows:

Nature	Cumulative Number	Total No. of Discharged Patients	Total No. of Deaths *
Health care workers of Hospitals/Clinics and medical students	338	128	109
Patients, family members & visitors	1150	439
Total	1488 **	567

*	Most of the deaths occurred in individuals who have a history of chronic diseases, or were patients who sought treatment at a relatively late stage of infection.
**	There are 135 recovering patients in convalescence.

End/Thursday, April 24, 2003

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• Prevention of Atypical Pneumonia