Is the Sub-continent immune to SARS menace?

HindustanTimes.com ^ | ,April 23, 2003 | Shakti Sharma

[CathyRyan]

Are people from India and Indian sub-continent immune to the fast spreading SARS virus? This question is baffling the medical community, with doctors discussing the possibility of the virus being race-specific.

Some doctors are of the view that people of the sub-continent may have a higher level of immunity to the virus. They reason that with a large number of Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Sri Lanka frequenting SARS-affected regions like Singapore, Hong Kong and other territories, hardly anyone has contracted the virus.

WHO (Delhi HQ) Information Officer, Harsharn Pandey avers: "It has been almost five months since the first case of SARS was reported from China, and the virus has spread to 23 countries, but not a single case of SARS has been reported from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh".

AIIMS virologist, Dr Shobha Broor says," Viruses are never race sensitive but it could be possible that people from this part of the sub-continent could have developed antibodies to counter the SARS virus."

Although WHO has no race-wise record of SARS victims - both dead and those affected -- available information culled from various sources points out that no person from this part of the world has died of SARS so far.

Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the US health department, Dr Julie L Gerberding, during a recent video conference, admitted about the typical race-specific behaviour of the virus and said that in China, Hong Kong and Singapore the ongoing transmission of this virus at a very accelerated pace in "certain communities".

Doctors are also pointing out at the fact that the local transmission of the virus has so far been reported from China, Hong Kong, Canada, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan, UK and the USA, while in the sub-continent, people who had tested positive for the virus had brought in the disease from infected nations and the recovery rate is cent percent.

Quoting incidents of SARS, doctors say, the first ever case of SARS in India was reported from Goa where a marine engineer tested positive. The patient, however, responded well to treatment and recovered in almost no time.

In the latest SARS case reported from Pune, three members of a family -- Stanley D'silva, his mother Vimla and sister Julie -- who came to India three weeks ago, tested positive. While Stanley has completely recovered, his mother and sister are responding well to treatment.

Indian Medical Association (Delhi Chapter) president, KK Aggarwal says the so called SARS positive cases reported cases in India may ultimately test negative, as the confirmatory test for the virus on the convalescent sample has to be done after 21 days.

[blam]

"PEople here in the USA, which is largely Anglo-Saxon, seem to be experiencing milder symptoms than Asians. This phenomenon is probably not due to poor hygiene in the USA.

Where is this reported and how do you know the race?

[sonofron]

"PEople here in the USA, which is largely Anglo-Saxon, seem to be experiencing milder symptoms than Asians. "

i hate to be knitpicky but people of anglo-saxon extraction (from england) are a minority here in the US. so, there is no link between them and the mild effects of sars here in the USA.

[Consort]

Does this mean that all Chinese and Canadians living the US are going to die?

[mikeIII]

Yes - Kimchee, I believe. Have there been any cases reported in Korea?

[Domestic Church]

It also could be historically endemic in India and the natural population is no longer killed off but has a natural inherited resistence. Think monkeys. Think UV light.

[Domestic Church]

"and a monkey comes to divide the bread among the fighting cats."

Interesting use of words.

[riri]

Think UV light

I see where you are going with the monkeys but expound on the UV light if you would?

[Domestic Church]

Just intuition at this point but if folks on the Indian subcontinent are genetically prepared to survive this(quite a stretch...and this would have to be a very old and site specific bug to cause this) you have to look at natural factors that would have set the stage, ie the climate.

Add to that the bumped off Antartica microbiologist who was researching UV light and related environmental stress in his studies...remember his work was a totally different ballpark from the other bumped off microbiologists. He was finding something obviously.

[riri]

Do you have any links for the dead microbiologists? I want to send them to my sister.

[mabelkitty]

This is a virus that originated with animals.

Seems the Hindus may have already developed an immunity to it based on their religious practices.

Cool.

[mabelkitty]

I still say all roads lead to....

monkey brains.

Just say "no" to monkey brains.

[Domestic Church]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/748153/posts

More Dead Scientists - Being A Microbiologist Is Dangerous To Your Health

[riri]

there is a new Dr. Robert Lee article...

SARS E2 Spike-protein Phylogeny

[mabelkitty]

Psst. It's okay to say "white people".

[riri]

Thanks.

[mabelkitty]

The Alpha patient was an animal handler, and were several of the other victims.

Animal handler/chef, not mutually exclusive.

I read the Chinese delicacy known as monkey brains is where it came from.

Bad batch of monkeys, I guess.

[mabelkitty]

Also, your Toronto has the highest Asian population in the whole Continent outside of New York City.

[Lady Heron]

So who would want to go after Asians? Racist usually go straight for blacks or Jewish people, why Asians?

[riri]

Study Sheds Light on Chlamydial pathogens

[per loin]

Have there been any cases reported in Korea?

Seven suspeected cases, but WHO is not yet carrying any probables for South Korea.