Cambodia's 16-year-old boy admitted to hospital as a possible case of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) Wednesday was discharged to his home Saturday evening, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Saturday night.
A joint statement by Cambodia's Health Ministry and the Officeof WHO representative in Cambodia, which was received on Sunday, said that "the decision to discharge the boy from hospital was taken based on clinical, laboratory, and x-ray findings."
"The boy has been without fever since admission to hospital andall relevant laboratory tests were normal at the time of discharge," it said, adding that "tests for the virus that causes SARS conducted by Institut Pasteur du Cambodge were all negative."
Based on these investigations the Ministry of Health and the WHO confirmed that the case does not meet the WHO definition of a probable SARS case.
The WHO emphasized that the status of Cambodia in relation to international travel remains unchanged. "There is no evidence thatthere is or has been SARS transmission at any time in Cambodia," the statement stressed.
The boy returned from China's Guangdong Province on May 16 and was isolated on Wednesday after he fell ill with a fever and respiratory symptoms, according to a joint statement issued by theWHO and the Cambodian Health Ministry on Thursday.
The boy was admitted to Calmette Hospital and his family was also under surveillance for symptoms of any illness.
