A 62-year-old Pretoria businessman who was diagnosed as suffering from a probable case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) died on Tuesday night at the Pretoria East Hospital, the Department of Health said.
In a statement, spokesperson Jo-Anne Collinge said the man died of cardiac complications which the hospital regards as unrelated to Sars.
The man was diagnosed as a probable Sars case on the basis of the clinical symptoms he displayed and the fact that he had returned from Hong Kong shortly before becoming ill.
Collinge said tests were conducted by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases — including anti-body tests done on Tuesday after 25 days of illness — but these failed to show conclusively that he had had the virus that causes Sars.
”Nevertheless all necessary precautions were taken in managing the patient, and the 17 individuals who were in close contact with him during the infectious stage of his illness are all well, having completed the full quarantine period,” Collinge said.
Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang expressed her sympathies for the man’s next-of-kin.
”They are in our thoughts at this time of loss. We appreciate how painful and full of stress the last three weeks must have been for them.”
Tshabalala-Msimang also appealed to the public to continue co-operating with the health authorities in taking the necessary precautions to protect themselves from Sars.
These include:
curtailing travel to affected areas;
knowing the symptoms of SARS if travel to such areas is unavoidable; and
presenting for treatment immediately if symptoms emerge during or after visiting affected areas.
Management, staff and doctors of Pretoria East Hospital have also extended their sincerest condolences to the patient’s family and friends.
On Monday, the victim was in intensive care but not under quarantine because he was no longer considered to be infectious. He did, however, have other medical complications.
The man returned from a trip to Hong Kong on March 27. He developed SARS symptoms — a consistently high fever and dry cough as well as difficulty breathing — on April 3 and he was admitted to the Pretoria East hospital on April 7.
The World Health Organisation defines a suspected case of SARS, also called atypical pneumonia, as a patient who displays a high fever and dry cough combined with difficulty breathing, but without any radiographic evidence of pneumonia.
A probable case also displays radiographic evidence of pneumonia. Blood tests are also done to isolate the virus believed to cause the illness. – Sapa