HONG KONG, May 11: The cocktail of drugs being used to treat SARS patients in Hong Kong has been changed after a study revealed part of the current treatment had no effect.

Hong Kong University researchers said on Saturday that the use of steroids in the first two weeks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome did not help fight off the virus but instead increased the chance of side-effects.

Hospitals have in Hong Kong have been using a combination of steroids and the anti-viral agent Ribavirin since the early days of the outbreak.

They have consistently stressed that early treatment with the two drugs increased the chances of survival.

However, many experts had begun to question the treatment as the death toll has continued to rise from early estimates of five per cent to almost 15 per cent.

The study said that SARS was a three-stage disease. The first stage was when the virus multiplied itself in the body when anti-viral drugs could help. However, the study showed steroids were no help at this stage.

In the second stage the body’s own immune systems kicks in to the extent it begins to damage the lungs. This is when steroids can be used to suppress the response and minimise the chance of damage.

About 20 per cent of patients reach the third stage called “pulmonary destruction phase” which requires oxygen treatment in intensive care units and in many cases is fatal.—dpa