Gov't dismisses direct link between sterilizer and lung ailment

SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Yonhap) -- The government on Tuesday dismissed an attempt by an environmental group to blame a sterilizer used in household humidifiers for the recent outbreak of a mysterious lung disease that has claimed at least five lives so far, saying more tests are still needed to establish the link.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) earlier said the sterilizer may have been the cause of the disease, at least in the latest case that affected 17 people, mostly young mothers who had just given birth and their infants.
An environmental group claimed there have been other similar cases where humidifier sterilizers must have been the main cause of the lung damage.
The KCDC countered that there may have been other similar cases, but that it was still too early to establish a direct link between sterilizers and the disease.
"The KCDC is conducting a study to find a causal link between the two, which includes reviewing all similar cases filed since 1997 when sterilizers were put on the market," Kwon Jun-wook, a KCDC official, said.
The official said the cases cited by the environmental group will also be reviewed as long as they have the clinical records for the alleged cases