Fast, easy SARS test approved for sale in China
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-06-14 09:38

China's food and drug authority has given the green light for a new and simple test for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) to go on sale, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The test, which is easy to use and relatively cheap, can detect SARS in patients between one to 10 days after they become ill, a State Food and Drug Administration official said in the report.

Until now it has taken health authorities weeks to confirm if a person has contracted SARS.

Tests which detect SARS by establishing the presence of antibodies or the virus' nucleic acid are already on sale in China, Xinhua said.

The pneumonia-like illness claimed around 800 lives from 8,000 cases in 32 to countries last year. China -- excluding Hong Kong -- was the worst hit with 349 deaths.

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