Your SARS risk depends on your genes

Main Category: Flu / Cold / SARS
Article Date: 16 Jan 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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A group of researchers here said yesterday that recent preliminary studies have revealed that a person's genetic make-up determines his susceptibility to the deadly Sars virus.

A study of Sars patients in Hong Kong showed that individuals with a pattern known as HLA-B 0703 were four times as likely to contract Sars, said Mr Paul Chan, an associate professor in microbiology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

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, he said.

Details on who is likely to possess the two genetic markers is not available immediately.

Meanwhile, China's two suspected Sars cases are to be discharged from hospital within a week, an official said, as the World Health Organisation yesterday awaited test results to determine whether they indeed had the virus.

Also, tests on two Chinese flight attendants who were placed in a Sydney hospital isolation ward with Sars-like symptoms indicated they did not have the disease.

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