Hong Kong's Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Dr. Yeoh Eng-kiong urged people who had fever, chills and body ache to seek medical treatment early because an early confirmation of the contraction of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) would produce good recovery rate.

Most of the people who failed to respond to the combination of treatments now used in Hong Kong to combat the disease fell into four main categories, he said on Saturday.

They had a pre-existing illness, aged 65 years or older, sought treatment late in the course of the disease, or had an unusually severe form of it.

The cumulative figure for patients who have been admitted to public hospitals with SARS in Hong Kong since March 12 is 1,358.

(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2003)