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  Sars is less serious for kids
Updated 29 April 2003, 14.56
Children wear Sars to their ballet lessons in Hong Kong
The deadly Sars virus may not be as dangerous for children as it is for adults.

Young children who get Sars don't tend to have as serious symptoms as teenagers and adults, researchers have found.

Teenagers have trouble breathing, muscle pains and shivers.

But younger children have milder symptoms like a runny nose and a cough.

Good and bad news


Source: WHO/ local health authorities
Fact File
Sars deaths so far
Mainland China: 147
Hong Kong: 150
Singapore: 23
Canada: 21
Vietnam: 5
Thailand: 2
Malaysia: 2
Philippines: 2
Taiwan: 1
Indonesia: 1 (unconfirmed)

They also recover more quickly than older people do.

Doctors don't know why this happens yet, but it's possible that kids have stronger immune systems to fight off 'childhood diseases'.

There's good and bad news about Sars around the world.

New cases

Possible first cases have been found in three new countries - Mongolia, South Korea and New Zealand.

Adults and children have different symptoms
But the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Sars had peaked in all infected countries, except China, which has been worst-hit by the killer bug.

There were nine new deaths in China on Tuesday, bringing the total there to 147.

And 202 new cases have been reported.

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