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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Sars victim’s eight-day fight for life



Picture exclusive: Inside the critical care unit


Every medic who came into contact with the man wore protective masks, gowns and gloves – as did the patient’s three visitors
Picture exclusive: Inside the critical care unit
Edward Moss
This is the emergency unit where doctors battled in vain for eight days to save the Sars-like virus victim’s life.
The man, 39, had admitted himself to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on February 9.
Within 24 hours he had fallen seriously ill and was transferred to the 100-bed critical care unit, which is the biggest in Europe.
Every medic who came into contact with the man wore protective masks, gowns and gloves – as did the patient’s three visitors.
The victim had already been an outpatient of the £545million hospital.
He was having treatment for a health problem unconnected to the illness that killed him.
The victim is thought to have caught the respiratory illness from his dad who is believed to have brought it back to the UK after picking it up during recent travels to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
The dad is still being treated in a Manchester hospital.
A third family member has also been struck down with novel coronavirus but has recovered well enough to be cared for at home in the West Midlands.
Bosses at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham said that the victim – who has not been named by officials – died on Sunday morning.
Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, 15, who was shot in the head by the Taliban, was discharged from the unit just 48 hours before the virus victim was admitted. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/sars-photo-critical-care-unit-1719235?