Posted on 04/22/2003 7:40:52 AM PDT by InShanghai
3.15pm update
Staff and agencies
Tuesday April 22, 2003
A further 17 people across Asia died of severe acute respiratory syndrome today, as officials in China, which has been accused of underreporting cases of the flu-like virus, were ordered to step up efforts to fight the disease.
Eleven of today's Sars deaths came from China, where it is believed the deadly virus originated. Today, schoolchildren in Hong Kong returned to class wearing surgical masks, following a three-week closure in response to the outbreak.
Worldwide, the death toll rose to 235 and the number of infections topped 4,000. Malaysia announced its second death and Hong Kong, which has been hit worse than anywhere else, another five, pushing the Sars toll there to 99.
Canadian authorities said hundreds of people in Toronto might have been exposed to Sars by two hospital employees who ignored orders to stay at home after showing symptoms of the virus.
Asia's tourism industry suffered a new blow as Vietnam announced plans to close a popular attraction to Chinese visitors. Indonesia's national airline suspended flights to Taiwan because of a sharp drop in passenger numbers. Other carriers already have slashed flights.
Two days after cancelling China's week-long May Day holiday in an attempt to stop travellers from spreading the disease, the government restored some days off. But travel agents were barred from taking tour groups from one province to another.
In Hong Kong, about 200,000 secondary students from 400 schools were back in class today. Another 900,000 younger students are expected to return to school on Monday.
Students and teachers were required to wear masks. Some students were seen lining up outside schools to have their temperatures taken in a search for fevers - a Sars symptom.
In Beijing, where 28 people have died of the disease, the city's Communist party head, Liu Qi, reportedly told officials to step up the tracing of people who might have been exposed to the highly contagious illness, and to report promptly and accurately.
"Do a good job of analysing statistics, effectively control and cut off the source of infection," Chinese newspapers and the Xinhua News Agency quoted Mr Liu as saying.
Mr Liu's comments came after the health ministry announcement on Sunday that the number of infections in Beijing had surged nearly tenfold, from 37 to 339. In all, mainland China has now reported 2,158 Sars infections and 97 deaths.
Following criticism of the capital's handling of Sars by the world health organisation (WHO), Beijing's mayor, Meng Xuenong, was replaced by a former party boss of the southern island province of Hainan, reported Xinhua.
Health minister Zhang Wenkang was also sacked on Sunday from his party posts, although he has kept his cabinet position for the time being.
In a rare pointed comment, WHO said the action against Mr Meng and Mr Zhang showed Chinese leaders were "now taking seriously the need for transparency in Sars reporting". The UN agency's website said both men had "played down the seriousness of Sars".
Authorities in Canada, which has reported 14 deaths, said they were tightening hospital procedures and looking for people who might have been exposed by two health care workers.
One worker attended a funeral after being told to stay at home because of possible Sars symptoms.
Dr Hanif Kassam, medical officer of health for the York region north of Toronto, said he would ask police to force the unidentified man to comply with the quarantine if necessary.
"He was symptomatic before the attendance to the funeral home and ... potentially put many hundreds of people under risk," Dr Kassam said.
Malaysian authorities said the country's latest victim died this morning on the island of Penang. The 26-year-old tour operator fell ill after visiting China and Thailand.
In Vietnam, which has reported five deaths, tour operators at picturesque Ha Long Bay, near the border with China, have been told to stop accepting Chinese visitors, a provincial official said.
The suspension of flights to Taiwan by Garuda Indonesia came after the airline already had cut service by half to Hong Kong and Singapore, both badly affected by Sars. Garuda, which flies to Taipei three times a week, said the suspension would last until at least May 15.
Doctors in India today said authorities were treating Sars too lightly and warned the deadly flu-like disease could spread like wildfire among the country's 1 billion people.
A national association representing more than 150,000 doctors said health authorities were not taking adequate steps to spread awareness about the disease.
"The health authorities are taking Sars too casually. There has been virtually no public awareness campaign so far, nor any attempt to get the word out to doctors and the public," said Sanjiv Malik, secretary general of the Indian medical association.
Doctors noted the handling of two recent cases of Sars where the patients were allowed to leave hospital isolation wards before tests proved they had contracted the virus. India currently has four Sars cases.
Cumulative Number of Reported Probable Cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
From: 1 Nov 20021 To: 21 Apr 2003, 17:00 GMT+2
Notes As SARS is a diagnosis of exclusion, the status of a reported case may change over time. This means that previously reported cases may be discarded after further investigation and follow-up. 1. The start of the period of surveillance has been changed to 1 November 2002 to capture cases of atypical pneumonia in China that are now recognized as being cases of SARS. 2. Includes cases who are "discharged" or "recovered" as reported by the national public health authorities. 3. National public health authorities report to WHO on the areas in which local chain(s) of transmission is/are occurring. These areas are provided on the list of (See Affected Areas ). 4. One death attributed to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China occurred in a case medically transferred from Viet Nam. 5. Since 20 April 2003 the United States of America are reporting to WHO probable cases of SARS, therefore the number of new cases since last WHO update is not applicable. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, here at home,
doctors have boldly tightened
report practices
and skillfully cut
about one hundred and ten
possible cases.
Check out the early
April US numbers, and
the late April stats...
POSTED: 2:49 p.m. EDT April 22, 2003
UPDATED: 3:31 p.m. EDT April 22, 2003
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Peter Beilenson announced that one patient is being treated in Baltimore that he called "a potential case of severe acute respiratory syndrome" that the Center for Disease Control is classifying as a case of special interest.
Beilenson said the 26-year-old woman from Hong Kong was being treated at Maryland General Hospital.
TheWBALChannel.com was told that the patient is being held in isolation at the hospital.
He said 10 people who recently came in contact with someone who visited Hong Kong or came from the Chinese city were visiting a friend in downtown Baltimore. The woman came down with symptoms similar to those for SARS within 4 days of their visit to their friend's Mt. Vernon/Bolton Hill apartment.
Beilenson said the patient meets two of the three criteria for a SARS diagnosis, but health officials are waiting to see how the symptoms develop. He said the three criteria are:
body temperature over 100.4 degrees-- NOT MET (the patient had a temperature of 100.1)
respiratory symptoms including cough -- MET
recent travel to or from Hong Kong -- MET
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday that there are 39 SARS cases in the United States and 2,909 cases worldwide. Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC, said travelers coming in and going out of the United States are being warned about the possible exposure risks and ways for protection.
In January 1999, MGH affiliated with the University of Maryland Medical System to form one of the largest health systems in the Baltimore metropolitan area.
http://www.thewbalchannel.com/health/2150812/detail.html
There have been other cases, haven't there, of SARS without the fever?
Anyone know why this low figure? Or is my tiny brain frazzling because of reading about SARS?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.