J Formos Med Assoc
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Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a life-threatening and highly contagious disease caused by the novel SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Immunohistochemical staining for SARS-CoV in the tissue sections of SARS patients is helpful in investigations of the biologic behavior of this virus in human tissue, and to determine the target cells of this virus in different organs. ⋯ SARS-CoV is mainly present in the cytoplasm of type II pneumocytes and can only be detected in the lung tissue during the early stage of the disease. In the patient who had symptoms of diarrhea, SARS-CoV staining was also identified in the mucosal epithelium of the colon.
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The value of the Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI) in predicting the mortality of patients with community-acquired pneumonia has not been reported in Taiwan. This study investigated the value of this scoring system in estimating mortality of inpatients with community-acquired pneumonia. ⋯ The PSI provided a useful prediction of medical outcome in patients with community-acquired pneumonia. To decrease unnecessary admission, further prospective studies are needed to determine whether outpatient therapy is appropriate for class I or class II patients with community-acquired pneumonia.