Objective To study the epidemic and clinical characteristics of three clusters of early cases of severe acute respiratery syndrome (SARS) in Shenzhen. Methods To retrospectively investigate three clusters of patients. To extract data on clinical presentation and laboratory studies. Results In the first cluster, one patient with SARS in Shenzhen had visited Hong Kong twice in one week. He had felt initial cold and fever in Hong Kong on January 14, while the second case had been onset of SARS when he had been back from Hong Kong. There were 5 people infected in the second cluster at the same time 1 week after they visited their father in a hospital in GuangZhou. Among the three clusters, two clusters had not been infected in ShenZhen, they are inputted, and another cluster is not clear, but it maybe inputted. Three clusters are distributed, they all had high fever. Among them, five had total body muscular soreness and unproductive cough, four with headache, three chill, and two dizziness and pharyngalgia. Three cases had asthma and diarrhea 1 week after the onset of SARS, and progressed to ARDS. The six patients with SARS in Shenzhen People’s Hospital tested positive for coronavirus-related anti-body (IgG) in their plasma 10-15 d after the onset. This IgG titres in one patient remained high (1∶640) 120 days after the onset. Neutrophilia and lymphopenia occurred in patients who died. The more severe the patients’condition was, the higher was the level of LDH increased. Conclusion In three clusters, most patients had not infected in Shenzhen, they are inputted and distributed. That patients with SARS tested positive for coronavirus-related IgG in their plasma.
Objective To investigate and discuss the prevalence and the relevant risk factors of bronchial asthma in Shenzhen city China. Methods We used standard scheme and questionnaire, and performed stratified-cluster-disproportional-random-sampling survey for the population of five communities. Results A total of 6 248 people were surveyed. 50.5% (3 156 of 6 248) of whom were men and 49.5% (3 092 of 6 248) were women. In this survey, forty asthma patients were found, and the overall prevalence rate was 0.64%, three groups with higher prevalence were 66 to 75 years (54‰), 56 to 65 years (23‰) and 14 to 17 years (12‰) respectively. Risk factors found that among 40 asthma patients, people often exposed to secondhand smoking were reported by 40% and children exposed to their father’s smoking from fetus were reported by 57%. People with asthma with allergic rhinitis were reported by 50%. The attacks were caused by common cold and changing temperature or inhaling cold air were 45% and 30% respectively. About 86% of children suffered from asthma before 2 years old. Conclusion This survey has basically reflected the distribution, frequency and intensity of asthma. The overall prevalence rate is 0.64% from which it would be estimated that there could be 25 900 asthma patients in Shenzhen city, the relavent data will provide basis for the future research, mass prevention and the treatment of asthma.