The World Health Organization (WHO) China office said in Beijing Friday night that the wait continues in the diagnosis of the suspected SARS case in southern China and it will be at least until early next week before the Ministry of Health of China and WHO can provide a clearer picture.

WHO said in a press release Friday night that the latest test results were discussed by an international panel of WHO experts from Geneva, Manila and Beijing via a teleconference on Friday evening.

"It was decided to await the outcome of another antibody test, the virus neutralization test, before reaching a final conclusion, " said WHO.

WHO said the neutralization test has been used only once so far, at the early stage in this case.

The results from that neutralization test indicated that the patient may have been slightly exposed to the SARS coronavirus at some point, but it was impossible to determine exactly when.

It said the additional virus neutralization tests that have been called for will compare the level of SARS neutralizing antibodies in the patient's blood over recent days with levels found early in the course of his disease. These tests are being performed in both Beijing and Hong Kong and are likely to take a number of days.

"Some of the most useful antibody tests are when samples collected during the early phase of infection are compared with samples taken during the recovery phase," said Dr. Julie Hall, SARS team leader of WHO China office, in the press release.

"As this patient has only just entered the recovery phase, it will take a few more days before the ongoing neutralization tests can be completed," she said.

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