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

As at 1 pm today (April 28), there is an additional 14 patients confirmed to have atypical pneumonia following admission to public hospitals earlier. They include three healthcare workers (two from Tuen Mun Hospital and one from Princess Margaret Hospital). The remaining 11 are other patients and contacts of patients with atypical pneumonia.

A total of 710 patients have recovered from atypical pneumonia and have been discharged from public hospitals. Of them, 42 were discharged today. There are also 103 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. Ninety-three patients are receiving treatment in intensive care unit.

Five 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 138 the total number of deaths relating to atypical pneumonia.

The deceased are aged from 43 to 82 and three of them has a history of chronic disease. Their information is as follows:

Hospital        Patient's gender            Age
 AHNH                    male*                   72
 PMH                     male                    43
 TMH                     male                    52
 TPH                     male*                   81
                          male*                   82

*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	350	150	138
Patients, family members & visitors	1207	560
Total	1557 **	710

Suspected cases

25

*	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 103 recovering patients in convalescence.

End/Monday, April 28, 2003

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• Prevention of Atypical Pneumonia