Via Treyfish's H5N1 Pandemic Information News, a report from The Standard: 'Sars' patient fights for life at St Thomas' after flying into London from Qatar. Excerpt:
The London hospital treating a man struck down by an illness similar to Sars has been named as St Thomas’.
Experts at the Lambeth hospital, which specialises in respiratory illnesses, have put him in isolation and are treating him by oxygenating his blood outside his body.
The 49-year-old patient who was born in Qatar caught the illness in Saudi Arabia and travelled by air ambulance for treatment in the UK.
He is the second person confirmed with the coronavirus, which has been likened to the Sars virus that killed hundreds of people in 2002.
The first case was a 60-year-old man in Saudi Arabia who died in July. The two patients never met. The Health Protection Agency is also investigating a third possible case.
Specialists at St Thomas’ are using a procedure known as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment.
All medical staff who come into contact with the patient are following strict infection prevention and control procedures and wearing masks and protective gloves.
