SARS patient recovers

2004-05-05 09:21

Beijing - A nurse who became Beijing's first confirmed SARS patient in an ongoing outbreak has recovered and been discharged from hospital, state media reported Wednesday.

The nurse, a 20-year-old woman surnamed Li, was infected after treating a student lab worker from the Institute of Virology, China's top SARS laboratory, which has since been shut down.

The researcher was the initial case in China's latest SARS scare and is now recovering in a hospital in eastern Anhui province.

Li was hospitalised on April 7 with a fever and cough and was diagnosed with the disease on April 22. She was released on Tuesday, the Xinhua news agency said.

So far nine people, all linked to the virology institute, have been confirmed as having Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which last year caused almost 800 deaths worldwide from some 8 000 infections.

One of the patients is listed as in serious condition, although the rest are recovering, Xinhua reported.

There are no other suspected cases of SARS in the country, but several hundred people who have had contact with SARS patients are under medical observation for symptoms.

- AFP