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Metropolis Reality Forums Ť Officials: New ideas on how SARS spreads ť

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   Officials: New ideas on how SARS spreads

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Topic: Officials: New ideas on how SARS spreads (Read 191 times)

Rhune
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Officials: New ideas on how SARS spreads
« on: Apr 17^th, 2003, 11:56pm »

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Officials: New ideas on how SARS spreads
May not come through water, air, but by other means
Thursday, April 17, 2003 Posted: 10:50 PM EDT (0250 GMT)

HONG KONG (CNN) -- Health officials studying how Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is spread said Thursday they believe the virus that causes it is not transmitted in water or in the air, but could be spread by contact with fecal matter from an infected individual.

Thursday, Hong Kong's health ministry reported four more people have died from the disease, bringing the total deaths there to 65. The ministry's latest SARS case count stands at 1,297, with 29 newly diagnosed patients.

Over one-quarter of the first several hundred Hong Kong cases appeared in the Amoy Gardens housing complex, causing health officials to remove residents until more was known about the disease.

Hong Kong Health Secretary Dr. Yeoh Eng-kiong said a SARS patient had visited the most affected block of that complex -- Block E -- on two separate occasions in March, using a toilet there.

"He might have infected other residents in Block E," Yeoh said.

The health secretary said the housing complex had been cleaned and disinfected "very thoroughly" and officials did not foresee any problems "for residents returning to their homes."

Health officials arrived at their conclusions through laboratory tests and by studying outbreak patterns, Yeoh said.

Also Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it will narrow its case definition to conform with the World Health Organization's standards.

The United States was the only country reporting suspected SARS cases under investigation rather than probable cases, WHO's Web site said.

In Hong Kong, airport passengers wearing face masks submitted to body temperature checks, part of a new proactive approach to SARS announced by the governor Wednesday.

Gov. Tung Chee Hwa said those checks will be extended to incoming passengers next week.

Wednesday, the World Health Organization said SARS has claimed 159 lives with 3,293 reported cases in 24 countries and territories.

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Rhune
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Re: Officials: New ideas on how SARS spreads
« Reply #1 on: Apr 18^th, 2003, 9:03am »

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China hid SARS patients - report
Friday, April 18, 2003 Posted: 8:57 AM EDT (1257 GMT)

BEIJING, China -- Beijing authorities have gone to staggering lengths to hide SARS patients from visiting World Health Organization (WHO) inspectors, according to TIME magazine.

At one of the most reputable of the city's hospitals, 31 patients suffering the potentially lethal disease were driven around in ambulances for the duration of the WHO visit, said TIME.

And at a military hospital, 40 SARS patients were said to have been moved to a hotel for the duration of the WHO tour, in an apparent attempt to deceive inspectors about the true extent of the outbreak.

The timing of the revelations could prove a major embarrassment to the Chinese government.

On Friday, China's President Hu Jintao called on authorities to provide full support for SARS research and to cooperate with international agencies. (Full story)

"[Thursday's ruling inner circle party] meeting explicitly warned against the covering up of SARS cases and demanded the accurate, timely and honest reporting of the SARS situation," Xinhua, China's official news service, reported.

The leader's comments followed WHO criticism that Beijing was not reporting SARS patients in military hospitals.

But the appeal would seem to be either disingenuous or to have simply been ignored, based on the TIME report that quoted unnamed doctors from the People's Liberation Army Hospital and China Japan Friendship Hospital. (Time report)

TIME, owned by CNN's parent company, also quoted a retired senior doctor as confirming that Beijing was continuing to deliberately hide SARS cases.

"I've seen an internal Ministry of Health report that puts the number of confirmed SARS cases in Beijing at between 200 and 300, based on accounts from individual hospitals," the doctor said.

Publicly, the Ministry of Health maintains there have only been 37 SARS cases in Beijing.

"Another internal document I've seen says that in the last 10 days there have been more than 100 new cases reported in Beijing," the medical source told TIME.

Government line
Hu had said SARS was not only a health and safety issue, but also affected national reform and development, the China Daily reported.

On stark contrast to Friday's revelations, the nine-member Politburo committee demanded that leaders throughout the country assist in the fight against SARS.

"They will be held accountable for the overall situation in their respective jurisdictions," the committee said.

The official national toll reports 1457 cases and 65 deaths nationally from the disease, excluding another death reported Friday in Beijing.

China's Ministry of Health told reporters last week their figures included SARS patients in military hospitals.

However, WHO officials estimated that if military patients were included, the total number of SARS cases in Beijing could range from 100 to 200 rather than the 37 reported.

China's military hospitals are not obliged by Chinese law to report cases to health authorities.

Temperature checks
Meanwhile, outgoing Hong Kong airport passengers wearing face masks were submitted to body temperature checks, part of a new proactive approach to SARS announced by the Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa on Wednesday.

Tung said those checks will be extended to incoming passengers next week.

Journalists observe the isolation ward at Beijing's Ditan Hospital.
Tung met reporters Friday as he rolled out a campaign for a massive cleanup of Hong Kong that officials hope will help, and he acknowledged earlier shortcomings.

"In the beginning, we were not as active or proactive as we are now," Tung said.

The Hong Kong Health Department has confirmed the SARS virus spread through the Amoy Gardens housing estate through the buildings' plumbing system. (Full story)

On Thursday, the WHO said 27 countries (including Hong Kong, Taiwan and China separately) had reported 3,573 cases of SARS and 166 deaths.

The disease first emerged in China's Guangdong Province last November, but health authorities there failed to notify their counterparts internationally until about four months later, according to Dr David Heymann, WHO director of communicable diseases.

Other developments:

• Beijing universities have canceled activities and some classes to prevent the spread of SARS.

• Southeast Asian leaders plan to meet in Bangkok, Thailand on April 29 to discuss ways to prevent SARS from ruining the region's travel and tourism industries.

• Australia, Mongolia and India report their first suspected cases of SARS. (India: Full story)

• The WHO says the virus which causes SARS comes from the same group that causes the common cold but it has never before been seen in humans. Confirming this knowledge is regarded as a key step in the hunt for a cure and possible vaccine against the disease. (Full story)

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Rhune
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Re: Officials: New ideas on how SARS spreads
« Reply #2 on: Apr 20^th, 2003, 9:51am »

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Heads roll over China SARS spread
May holiday cancelled in effort to stop virus spreading
Sunday, April 20, 2003 Posted: 9:35 AM EDT (1335 GMT)

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China's health minister and the mayor of Beijing have both been sacked from their jobs after officials announced a dramatic increase in cases of the deadly SARS virus in the country, state media reports.

The government also announced that it was canceling one of the country's biggest national holidays -- the week-long May 1 International Workers' Day holiday -- in an effort to prevent the virus being spread further around the country.

The official Xinhua news agency gave no reason for the top officials' sackings, but speculation has been growing in recent days that minister Zhang Wenkang and Mayor Meng Xuenong might be forced from office over their handling of the outbreak.

Earlier Sunday the health ministry in Beijing raised the number of confirmed SARS cases in the country significantly, saying there were 402 suspected infections in Beijing alone and 12 new deaths.

In total the number of confirmed SARS cases in the Chinese capital soared from an official tally of 37 to 339 as of Friday, the latest date numbers are available, health officials told reporters.

The announcement came after weeks of criticism aimed at Chinese authorities, with many medical experts accusing officials of trying to cover up the true extent of the outbreak.

On Saturday Chinese President Hu Jintao demanded local health officials provide "accurate, timely, and honest reporting about the disease," according to state-run media reports.

He said any official caught trying to cover up the spread of the virus would face severe punishment.

Keen to show they are taking the outbreak seriously, health officials said Sunday they would spend whatever was needed to contain the virus -- including cancelling the week-long May 1 International Workers' Day holiday.

"The purpose of such an act is to prevent the massive movement of people and the possible spread of the disease," Gao Qiang, an executive vice health minister told reporters at a press briefing.

He added that the cancellation would likely deal a blow to China's economy, but he said, "people's lives and health had to be put above everything."

Gao also said the government would subsidize the cost of treating SARS patients and pledged the government would provide a daily update on cases rather than announcements every five days.

The new deaths announced Sunday push China's officially reported SARS toll to 79 deaths, 18 of which were in Beijing the health ministry said.

Hong Kong battered
The announcement of the new cases on the Chinese was followed later Sunday by the latest daily briefing from officials in Hong Kong, where seven new deaths from SARS were reported Sunday.

On top of that a further 22 cases were reported, although at the same time officials were keen to stress that 46 people had been released from medical care following successful treatment.

In all since the outbreak began some 409 patients have been discharged following treatment for SARS in Hong Kong hospitals, with another 168 being transferred to convalescent care, health officials said.

On Saturday Hong Kong reported a significant spike in the number of fatalities with 12 dead, the highest toll for single day.

Easter services have included prayers for an end to the outbreak.
That news came as a bitter psychological blow for the already battered territory and its economy, just a day after Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa expressed hopes the outbreak would stabilize.

Among those who died on Saturday, five had no previous medical conditions and were regarded as otherwise relatively young, fit and healthy.

Hong Kong remains the worst hit SARS-infected area in the world -- with a death toll higher even than that officially reported in mainland China where the virus is thought to have originated.

Cases of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, have been reported in more than 20 countries and territories around the world.

On Saturday, before the announcement of 12 further deaths in China, the World Health Organization (WHO) put the global death toll from the virus at more than 182.

Although that number is still relatively low on a global scale, experts say the worrying factor is that very little is known about the virus, how to prevent it and how to treat it.

In total, the WHO said Saturday, there had been more than 3,500 cases of SARS infection around the world, although about half of those have since recovered and been discharged from medical care.

In other developments:

• Workers wearing masks and protective clothing have begun a thorough clean-up at one of Singapore's largest wholesale vegetable markets after an outbreak of SARS among retailers there. The number of cases at the market has raised fears that the virus has moved beyond hospitals and into the community at large.

• A 99-year-old man has become the 14th person to die from SARS in Canada -- the worst hit country outside of Asia. Also the country's largest trauma unit has been isolated and closed to new patients after four staff members there began showing symptoms of the virus.

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