Promising Treatment for SARS Reported

A combination of steroids and antiviral drugs offers a promising treatment for SARS, the virus that killed about 800 people this year and infected thousands worldwide, Canadian researchers reported Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.

Preliminary results of a clinical study of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome patients show “major potential” for the treatment, they said.

“These results have the potential to have global impact on the way future SARS patients are treated,” said Dr. Eleanor Fish of the University of Toronto, the study’s lead author.

The study of 22 probable SARS patients in Toronto was conducted between April and May in the midst of two deadly SARS outbreaks in the Toronto area that claimed 44 lives.

The team found that SARS patients treated with a combination of steroids and immune-boosting proteins called interferons responded better and recovered faster than those given only steroids, which was the major form of treatment during the outbreak. They also had less need for intensive care and ventilators.

“In fact, many of the SARS symptoms, including respiratory and lung abnormalities, cleared up in a very short period,” they wrote. “The study also found no side effects to the patients.”

Anti-inflammatory drugs like steroids are the most common treatment for respiratory diseases, but when used alone they suppress the immune system, allowing SARS to spread.

“Rather than treating the symptoms, it seemed more appropriate to aggressively treat the virus infection,” Fish said. “The very first thing our body does when a virus touches a cell, it makes interferon.”