/ 28 April 2003

Suspected Pretoria Sars patient discharged

The 19-year-old Pretoria student who was suspected of having contracted Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, has been discharged from hospital.

The superintendent of the Pretoria Academic Hospital, where the woman was treated, said on Monday that blood tests had shown that she only had a viral flu.

Doctor Trevor Fisher said X-rays taken of the woman’s lungs did not show any signs of pneumonia and blood tests showed that she was suffering from flu.

Based on this, doctors treating her decided to discharge her.

The student had recently returned from a holiday in China. She was admitted to the hospital on Friday, after having developed symptoms earlier in the week. – Sapa