A new type of hospital ward designed in the aftermath of the SARS outbreak in 2003 has opened at the First Hospital Attached to the Guangzhou Medical Institute, the Southern Metropolitan News said Thursday.

The ward, called the "negative-air-pressure ward," is fitted with a specially designed air conduit that takes in and sterilizes contaminated air with ultraviolet radiation. It was the first of its kind in China, the News said.

The ward, which has 13 beds, is used as a normal ward if there are no patients with highly infectious diseases such as SARS. However, when there is an infectious disease outbreak, special machines will take in only fresh air while the interior air will be sterilized before being recirculated.

The hospital developed the idea for the ward after the SARS outbreak last year. Hospitals, not prepared for a highly contagious disease like SARS, were considered a major source of infection.

SARS infected more than 8,000 people in nearly 30 countries and regions and killed nearly 800 after it emerged in late 2002, according to the World Health Organization. It re-emerged briefly in China in April, killing one person.

To better prepare for infectious diseases, the hospital is also planning to establish more of these special wards in its new 28-floor building. The wards would be able to accommodate 40 to 50 beds.

 (Shenzhen Daily July 16, 2004)