Shanghai SARS Cases a State Secret (China caught in lies -- again)

I believe your figures are inaccurate and understate the crisis.

For example, as of yesterday, Singapore, where I have a home and family members -- and whose authoritarian "government" is also pretty secretive -- acknowledged nineteen deaths and more than 500 victims.

And China [Including once-FRee-British Hong Kong] is estimated to have several thousand cases.

I like those WHO guys. They are much, much more useful than Hans Blix. First they forced Beijing to kneel down and admit they were lying. And now, it's Shanghai's turn. The significance of this is: it is the first time in the 54 years People's Republic of China's history that they have to back down and admit they are wrong. Isn't that something?

Imagine having these guys searching for WMD in Iraq... They deserve a medal.

...except for the fact (last I heard) that WHO is still refusing to work directly with Taiwan officials and doctors -- since the govt of Taiwan isn't recognized by the UN as legitimate.

'WHO guys' may be heroes in China, but people in Taiwan may die because of them.

Actually they're not my figures, they are from the April 24th stats at the WHO website.

That said, I believe your figures [As in the figures POSTED by you, not necessarily the figures OWNED by you -- get it? :-) ] are inaccurate and understate the problem.

For example, as of yesterday, Singapore, where I have a home and family members -- and whose authoritarian "government" is also pretty secretive -- acknowledged nineteen deaths and more than 500 victims.

And China [Including once-FRee-British Hong Kong] is estimated to have several thousand cases.

I wonder about Vietnam. They are saying that Vietnam has beaten sars. Yet Vietnam is not exactly a garden spot of openness, democracy and a free press. Medical care can not be that good there as they moved the american to HK when (I guess they realized) they were in over their head with his situation. I have to wonder if Vietnam is cooking the numbers like China.

Hey, be fair. WHO is neutral in this issue.

It is the People's Republic of China who are playing politics and blocking Taiwan's request to sit in as an observer.

So, you can say it is PRC who is killing Taiwan people.

Hi, Brian. Nice to bump into you here.

Up to 5:00pm local time April 24, the once-FRee-Brisith Hong Kong (I like that, why don't we make it official?) has 1,488 cumulative cases and 109 deaths.

Who cares how many China had? The figures are faked anyway.

Potentially SARS is spread on the basis of around 1 to 300.

It will be around for a very long time, including in Vietnam. [Where Thailand's first fatal case, Dr Urbani, the Italian WHO doctor who was in charge of this Region contracted the disease]

The other day Dr Manoon Leechawengwong gave a presentation about SARS to some friends of mine in Bangkok. Dr Manoon is a specialist on respiratory diseases; former Assistant Clinical Professor at Mount Sinai Teaching Hospital, NY; is Chairman of the Siriraj Foundation [Drug- resistant Tuberculosis Research Fund] and Director of the ICU of Vichayut Hospital in Bangkok.

One of my friends made some notes and here they are, verbatim:

QUOTE:

I herewith share with you my lay-man's assessment, particularly what I picked up from the questions and answers:

The virus gets into the air by a carrier sneezing or coughing, or it transmits by touching an affected area (better explained in websites such as who.int, cnn.com etc etc.)
the virus travels in big aerosol droplets that may travel 1 meter; it may (possibly, and much more dangerously) also travel in tiny invisible aerosol droplets that could travel a mile
this (corona type) virus stays alive for 3 hours; the sun's UV light probably kills the SARS virus droplets in the air instantly (as it does other coronas)
Who gets it and what chance to survive?
Anyone can get it (probably), although (probably) some may be less infectious, and others may be highly infectious.
If you are over 60, the risk of death may be 40%, young children: 1%, so age has something to do with it (probably)
(probably) the length of exposure to the virus increases the risk of contracting SARS i.e. that's why so many hospital staff picked it up.
What symptoms?
fever >38degrees; dry cough; chills; muscle ache; difficulty in breathing.
You will be REALLY sick
80-90% get hospitalised
10-20% need ICU treatment
7% need respirator
4-5% die; creeping up to 6% (probably) (this is under the best possible healthcare scenarios so far...)
Sickness may take 3-5 weeks; if you get over it you will have a good chance of being immune to SARS afterwards (probably)
What is the situation in Thailand:
(probably) we are very lucky so far - Dr Manoon thinks there is no reason to believe that statistics are being suppressed.
The bad news is: it WILL hit Thailand also, probably in big numbers, and probably : very soon.
for now we owe a lot to Dr Urbani, the Italian doctor who went to Hanoi to investigate this mysterious disease, got SARS from a patient (who died of it) then came to BKK to die himself, in isolation; because Urbani knew he had it, he went into an ICU, and told all hospital staff to wear facemasks, surgical gloves etc; Dr Manoon believes that way a rapid spread was avoided.
Most Thailand upcountry hospital doctors and nursing staff don't have proper surgical masks and may not get them in view of the shortage and increasing price.....(anyone could help by sending masks to Dr Manoon)
Dr Manoon (he did not say it, my own conclusion only...) faces a lot of obstruction from Health Ministry officials who wish to play down his awareness activities for fear of damge to Thailand's reputation and the direct economic consequences (tourism; airtravel; trade fairs and conventions; hotels + restaurants; retail i.e. store traffic; entertainment). Of course: nobody likes to see the economy go down, and that's exactly why we should act collectively to raise the awareness.
Dr Manoon is campaigning wih limited means to promote the wearing of face masks in Thailand the same as they do in Singapore (not as in HKG) i.e. if you are a carrier you MUST wear a mask; also if you have any similar syptoms of colds, influenza, coughs. Some government officials do not like this kind of "adverse" publicity!
What do we do to protect ourselves?
don't be stupid and ignorant about it
BE RESPONSIBLE by trying to prevent the spread of SARS i.e. wear a face mask when you have the virus, to prevent the spread of the aerosol droplets as much as possible
FREQUENT HAND WASHING
keep in optimal health condition, have enough sleep; dont stress! (if you don't, your immunity will be lower and this bug(ger) will have an increased chance to find it and hit you...)
Discipline yourself when you have any reason at all to be suspicious about yourself or anyone in your immediate environment: DONT TOUCH YOUR FACE (the moment you rub the SARS droplets into your eyes or nose you are sure to go down with SARS)
Have FACEMASKS ready at home, in the office, and at your childrens' class rooms
Anyone (employees, students) with any suspicious symptoms at all: quarantine yourself i.e. dont go to work/school/out and seek treatment immediately; employers and schools should set up the rules; create the awareness.
Keep uptodate, don't lower your guard!
dont travel to the worst hit areas if you can avoid it
if you must travel: wear facemasks at the airports, on the planes, and: be responsible about the potential consequences after your return

Why the sudden and major awareness unlike previous viruses?

because doctors and nurses never before died after exposure to virus patients for 1-2 weeks only...., there's no vaccine yet, and the curve of number of cases reported is going straight up!
As Dr Manoon said: it's fair if the spreading is 1 on 1, but if we are not going to be aware/responsible about SARS 1 person may affect 300 others or more (as has already been the case in HKG, and possibly China), and the multiplier effect might unnecessarily kill thousands of people who would otherwise have had a fair chance.
Face masks:
the much heralded 3M type called N-95 is excellent but totally unobtainable for the moment; moreover it is extremely difficult to wear anyway as even experienced surgeons can only breath through it for up to 10 minutes
find 3-layered surgical masks from a certified manufacturer (for your info: 2 weeks ago I bought a few boxes; today I scraped 10 boxes together but the price has doubled; they are now at least 2-3 Baht a piece).

<< Once-FRee-British Hong Kong! [I like that, why don't we make it official?] >>

I already did.

It's official!

It's Once-FRee-British Hong Kong!

[Have a look at #45 -- Best ones -- Brian]

<< Once-FRee-British Hong Kong! [I like that, why don't we make it official?] >>

I already did.

It's official!

It's Once-FRee-British Hong Kong!

[Have a look at #48 -- Best ones -- Brian]