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It 'is a matter of urgency to get better analysis and review,' said Dr. Simon Mardel, a WHO official who led the two-day meeting that ended Friday. He said thousands of potential therapies and compounds had been tested so far as researchers try to determine treatments for SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome

Doctors still do not know how best to treat SARS patients who have breathing difficulties, [Simon Mardel] said. One method is invasive ventilation, in which a patient is connected to a ventilator through a tube inserted in the windpipe, a procedure that generally requires sedation and temporary paralysis. A second method is noninvasive: A mask is fitted over the face and oxygen is blown into the lungs. Both carry the risk of transmitting the virus to hospital employees

The African nations are Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa and Tanzania, which have about one-third of all AIDS cases there. In the Caribbean, the aid will go to the Bahamas; Dominican Republic; Haiti; the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, which includes Antigua and Barbuda; Dominica; Grenada; St. Kitts and Nevis; St. Lucia, St.Vincent and the Grenadines; Anguilla and Montserrat; and the British Virgin Islands. More than 90 percent of Caribbean AIDS patients live in these areas

If a major outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, occurs, then the system of sending specimens for independent confirmation will become less critical, said Dr. Malik Peiris of the Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong. The World Health Organization credits Peiris with discovering the SARS coronavirus. The agency recognized the risk that SARS might spread if tests were delayed. We admit that we might well miss the first case or even the first cluster, [John MacKenzie] said. The panel, he said, is recommending limiting SARS testing for now largely because scientists do not have enough specimens of the serum portion of blood from patients who were infected during the epidemic earlier this year. The serum contains antibodies to the virus and is needed for purposes of scientific controls in diagnostic testing. Laboratory scientists need positive serum to make quite sure that what you're seeing is what you expect to see, MacKenzie said

The countries in Africa are Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa and Tanzania, which have about one-third of all AIDS cases there. The Caribbean nations are the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Haiti and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, which includes Antigua and Barbuda; Dominica, Grenada; Saint Kitts and Nevis; St. Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Montserrat, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands. More than 90 percent of Caribbean AIDS patients live in those places

All countries should conduct inventories at their laboratories to determine where the SARS virus is being kept and what strains of the virus are being stored, [John MacKenzie] said Tuesday. Also, MacKenzie said, the WHO, an agency of the United Nations, and member countries needed to develop procedures to control which laboratories can hold and work with the virus, which apparently is confined to laboratories now. The committee came up with a list of high-priority research questions for researchers, but did not release the list. In the Singapore case, a 27-year-old doctoral student accidentally became infected with SARS while working on the West Nile virus. The student did not know he had been exposed to the SARS virus

If a major outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, occurred, then the system of sending specimens for independent confirmation would become less critical, said Dr. Malik Peiris of the Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong. W.H.O. credits Dr. Peiris with discovering the SARS coronavirus. During the epidemic, some individuals whose serums were rich with SARS antibodies had donated blood as an experimental treatment known as passive immunization for very ill SARS patients. Such donations are relatively easy to obtain because they are altruistic. But, Dr. Peiris said, ''when you talk about donating blood for diagnostic tests it seems a bit more remote.'' SARS is one of many viruses that can cause a lung condition known as atypical pneumonia, and many doctors would be likely to suspect SARS because of the epidemic earlier this year. But, Dr. [John MacKenzie] said, ''we don't want to test everyone who has atypical pneumonia unless there is a cluster of cases for which there is no other alternative diagnosis and for which antibiotics do not work.''

The W.H.O. invited 45 international experts in public health, SARS, virologists, social sciences, laboratory science and other disciplines to meet for the first time to identify the most important gaps in knowledge about SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome. The committee came up with a list of the highest priority research questions for researchers, but did not specify what the issues were. In the case this summer, a 27-year-old doctoral student accidentally became infected with SARS while working on the West Nile virus in a laboratory in Singapore. The student did not know he had been exposed to the SARS virus. Dr. Jong Wook Lee, the director general of the World Health Organization, assured the committee that the agency would devote more money for SARS, if needed. But, Dr. [Angus Nicoll] said, ''we are wary'' about the the agency's ability to deal with SARS and other epidemics of new and old diseases