China's Ministry of Health (MOH) has so far not discovered or received reliable reports of any AIDS patient infected with SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), an MOH official said in Beijing Wednesday.

Sun Xinhua, an official from the MOH disease control bureau, said a male AIDS patient from Shanxi Province who had been diagnosed with SARS was later found to be clear of the disease.

Sun said the report from the Beijing Health Bureau indicated the patient had been suspected of being infected with SARS when he was hospitalized in Beijing.

"After taking antibiotics for a few days, the patient's lung infection improved, and he was ruled out."

The man suffered from pneumonia due to immune deficiency, he said.

AIDS patients had relatively low immunity, and easily contract other diseases, especially pneumonia, Sun said.

Early reports indicated the man received treatment for AIDS in Beijing You'an Hospital last year and he also suffered from tuberculosis and lung infections.

The patient came to the You'an Hospital for treatment on May 25 by taxi and was then hospitalized. The taxi driver who drove him to Beijing, and the driver's family, were also isolated.

After a second diagnosis by experts from the Beijing SARS prevention headquarters, the patient was cleared of the SARS diagnosis on June 1. His relatives were also excluded from the list of suspected SARS cases.

(Xinhua News Agency June 4, 2003)