SARS

[chinadave2001]

Hi all,

 

Of course all of these may be nothing more than rumors but I think it's worth noting that today CBS News reported the following:

 

1. SARS is killing younger patients than before(In their 30's)

2. Authorities fear that there may be new deadlier strain out there- that the disease has already mutated.

3. That Chinese authorities were considering isolating SARS patients in former lepper colonies

4. That United and other airlines were cancelling some flights to Asian cities.

5. There are now more than 200 identified cases in Beijing.

 

I have a serious question:

Does anyone think that we could get our loved ones' visas expedited on the basis that they are at risk of SARS?

Dave

[Mick]

Personally, I think getting cases expeditied on the basis of SARS is logical, reasonable and compassionate. For those very reasons I doubt they will do it.

[tparrent]

Careful what you wish for. If anyone raises this issue too publicly, our fiancees may well be DENIED entry on the basis of fears that they will bring SARS with them. No joke.

[chinadave2001]

Careful what you wish for.  If anyone raises this issue too publicly, our fiancees may well be DENIED entry on the basis of fears that they will bring SARS with them.  No joke.

I agree. I am very worried that that is exactly what will happen anyway - maybe another of those "slow-downs.."

[Mick]

Careful what you wish for.  If anyone raises this issue too publicly, our fiancees may well be DENIED entry on the basis of fears that they will bring SARS with them.  No joke.

I agree. I am very worried that that is exactly what will happen anyway - maybe another of those "slow-downs.."

Let's hope and pray that the powers that be do not take that sort of action. More delays or blocking immigration for SARS affected areas would be a real pain. I understand your fears though Dave. Yet, I would think that blocking visas based on this would be a really drastic step and hopefully our government would not implement such a strategy.

[tonado]

Hi all,

 

Of course all of these may be nothing more than rumors but I think it's worth noting that today CBS News reported the following:

 

1. SARS is killing younger patients than before(In their 30's)

2. Authorities fear that there may be new deadlier strain out there- that the disease has already mutated.

3. That Chinese authorities were considering isolating SARS patients in former lepper colonies

4. That United and other airlines were cancelling some flights to Asian cities.

5. There are now more than 200 identified cases in Beijing.

 

I have a serious question:

Does anyone think that we could get our loved ones' visas expedited on the basis that they are at risk of SARS?

Dave

Number 1, 4, and 5 are definitely true. I heard that China will isolate you (even if you a foreigner) from everyone if you have SARS. I don't know where they will move you. I haven't heard about number 2 yet but I heard the mutated version may be more mild.

 

This SARS virus is scary because there are so much unknown. Even the Chinese leaders are expressing concerns. Malaysia and Saudi Arabia are banning Chinese from entering their countries. Also, more deaths are occurring in HK and China the last two days. If SARS continues to spread, I will bet more countries will ban Chinese. I am very worried since my fiancee is still in China. Her mom will require minor surgery soon and I was telling her that most people caught SARS from hospitals. It seems like people in China (except in Guangzhou or Beijing) don't worry about SARS at all.

[owenkrout]

1,2,4 & 5 are true. Given that China would like to hide as many cases as they can, I wouldn't rule out 3. Hong Kong did briefly resort to a quarentine camp for the residents from the Amoy Gardens apartments utilizing an old colonial era law. The WHO checked and found many more cases than were being reported in Beijing.

 

Apr 16, 7:31 AM (ET)

 

By Jonathan Ansfield

BEIJING (Reuters) - The World Health Organization said China, epicenter of a flu-like virus that has killed about 160 people worldwide, had failed to report all its cases and the capital, Beijing, could have five times the official number.

 

The virus, which is new to science and has no known cure, has been carried by air travelers to around 22 countries in the past six weeks, infecting over 3,400 people.

 

Hong Kong, the second most affected area after mainland China, reported five more deaths from the virus on Wednesday.

 

"Indeed there have been cases of SARS -- there is no question about that -- that have also not been reported officially," German WHO virologist Wolfgang Preiser said after a visit to a military hospital in Beijing.

 

"The military seems to have its own reporting system which does not link in presently with the municipal one," he told a news conference on Wednesday.

 

WHO officials called for full disclosure from the country where Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) first appeared in November and which has been criticized widely for not sharing information with the rest of the world soon enough.

 

Officials were asked how many cases Beijing really had. "I would guess the range would be between 100 and 200," WHO official Alan Schnur replied. Only thirty-seven cases have been officially reported in Beijing.

 

A team of WHO virologists and epidemiologists were allowed to visit two military hospitals in Beijing -- days after asking for permission -- as the government responded to pressure.

 

SARS has killed at least 65 people and infected 1,445 in mainland China -- nearly half of the world's cases -- since it first surfaced in the southern province of Guangdong.

 

SINGAPORE TEST

 

In a sign some progress was being made in the fight against the illness, Singapore said it hopes to have a diagnostic test ready in a week following 12 deaths from SARS in the tiny island nation in less than a month.

 

But scientists in Hong Kong said they may have detected a more virulent form of the virus in the densely populated city where the disease has killed 61 people and infected 1,268.

 

Key data to help explain SARS may emerge from China in three to four weeks, due to the new openness of officials, said Dr David Heymann, head of the WHO's contagious diseases unit.

 

"What's the future of this disease?" he said in New York. "We won't know until we see what's going on in China. Everything hinges on what we find out in China."

 

Scientists have been working feverishly on diagnostic tests for SARS, after mapping the genetic sequence of the virus.

 

The state-run Genome Institute of Singapore said its new test would take three hours and may be sensitive enough to detect the virus in its early stages before a person develops SARS symptoms such as high fever and a dry cough.

 

"We need to find the kit, get it tested, validated and then applied for general use. We will put out the kits on Friday," Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng said in a news conference.

 

To help detect SARS cases, Wong said Singapore started to use a thermal imaging system at its Changi airport on Friday for passengers arriving on flights from China and Hong Kong.

 

A passenger stands in front of the system, developed by Singapore Technologies, to have his temperature checked, the minister said.

 

On Monday, a German company, Hamburg-based Artus GmbH, said it was distributing a quick "real-time" test that can detect the virus by looking for its genetic signature.

[Mick]

From all I have read, there is obviously a lot of confusion and misinformation due to the fact that there has been a lack of accurate reporting of the extent and spread of the disease. I have read everything that I can get my hands on about this thing and my impression is that, at least for the time being, things are getting worse rather than better.

 

I have many friends and former students in China, Li's family is there, and I know all of us at Candle have loved ones there as well. While there are certainly some unfounded rumors about, I think much of the information is accurate, especially that issued by the World Health Organization. I would suggest that it is in all of our interests to keep a close eye on this disease. I know that it has been suggested that more people die of other causes, like influenza, than have died of SARS. That's true. Yet in a sense this is comparing apples to oranges. We know the cause, methods of transmission, and effective treatment for most strains of influenza. SARS is basically a mystery at this point and, if the virus is still mutating, researchers will be in a race to keep up with it.

 

Thanks to all who have posted valuable information and links.

[shi2tou5]

Hi all,

 

Of course all of these may be nothing more than rumors but I think it's worth noting that today CBS News reported the following:

 

1. SARS is killing younger patients than before(In their 30's)

2. Authorities fear that there may be new deadlier strain out there- that the disease has already mutated.

3. That Chinese authorities were considering isolating SARS patients in former lepper colonies

4. That United and other airlines were cancelling some flights to Asian cities.

5. There are now more than 200 identified cases in Beijing.

 

I have a serious question:

Does anyone think that we could get our loved ones' visas expedited on the basis that they are at risk of SARS?

Dave

Response to Questions:

#1 Most new diseases (and it has been determined that this is a totally new disease from the Chonovirus related to common cold but totally new branch) actually start in younger people because what happens is this. Patients go to hospitals, then they effect the hospital staff (normally staff is in the 20's-50's range). So initial spread and death rates will be in younger people. As the disease spreads to the population the age range statistics will change and become more realistic.

#2 Most newer diseases naturally mutate much quicker than older established diseases like measles, mumps, etc. Eventually they find their niche in the population and then stabilize and mutation slows.

#3 Could be true? Maybe they will have to do something like that. China is much different than US in that it population density is 4x-5x more. And the fact that they use public transportation much more.

#4 Most likely true. Part due to scare, part do to people booking less flight and it is no longer economically feasible to have half empty air planes so it is better to have only half as many flight with mostly full planes (market supply-demand economics).

#5 Most likely true. Since they just added the military hospital cases (about 50 some people). Seems like military hospitals are run by Dept. of Defense, where as regular hospitals are run by Dept. of Health and they were not inter governmental agency communicating so good (hmm sounds familiar to our K1 visa cases with the INS, DOS, CA, Congressmen, Senators, etc.)... It is also hard to tell if it is a confirmed case and/or a suspected case (sometimes they will isolate people at home and/or hospital if there is a suspected case). US do this too. So hard to tell the exact numbers.

[chinadave2001]

There was just an analyst on 48 HRS on NBC who pointed out that by comaprison with the flu, SARS is not a big deal. No Americans have died as of yet, while the flu kills 35,000 each year. No news, no panic, no big deal.

Interesting.

This situation is confusing. You read one thing and I am ready to move to cabin in the backwoods of Maine - read the next thing and it seems to be blown out of proportion. How frustrating.

Dave

[Jatuke]

Global politics.

[tonado]

Thursday April 17, 11:56 AM

SARS closes schools and orphans children in poor Chinese community

 

QINGXU COUNTY, China (AFP) - In Qingxu county, one of interior China's thousands of semi-rural communities, atypical pneumonia is spreading death and despair and forcing society to a standstill.

 

Children are orphaned, schools are closed and underfunded clinics overwhelmed, as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) lingers invisibly, ready to strike seemingly at random among the county's 300,000 people.

 

"We have no idea how many have got the disease, because the officials don't publish any statistics," said a souvenir vendor at Qingxu city's only tourist attraction, an average-looking pagoda. "All we know is it's a lot."

 

Qingxu does not look like the kind of place in need of new burdens to make life even harder.

 

Fumes well from the factory chimneys to mix with the dust kicked up by passing lorries and the smoke from small bonfires at the roadside.

 

Because of the county government's unwillingness to tell the truth about SARS, rumors are circulating about the toll it has exacted.

 

Some say at least 50 have been affected and put the number of fatalities at five, more than the official count for all of Beijing with a population of 13 million.

 

Even in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi's province, 35 kilometers (22 miles) away, people know that Qingxu has been severely hit by SARS, but no one is able to say why.

 

It seems Qingxu's SARS victims got the virus while visiting other provinces, doing nothing differently from millions of others who seek their fortune in more prosperous parts of China.

 

"One truck driver contracted SARS in Beijing and passed it on to his wife, and they both died," said a man selling softdrinks near the small lake that forms the center of the city.

 

"They left behind an eight-year-old son, who, as far as I know, is still in hospital."

 

In terms of the profiles of its SARS deaths, little distinguishes Qingxu from a multitude of other unknown spots in China, leading to the worrying suspicion that there might be other places just as badly affected.

 

And just like many other marginalized parts of China, Qingxu has fallen victim to a chronic lack of money for its health facilities, meaning all SARS patients must be treated in Taiyuan.

 

The Qingxu government appears in a state of denial, even though several locals said a ranking county official also died from the disease.

 

"He got it from another official who had been to Beijing," said a street vendor.

 

According to the government of Qingxu, none of this is really happening, perhaps explaining the apparent absence of sterilization of public spaces and the universal lack of surgical masks.

 

"The officials tell us not to worry, that everything is all right," said a woman who runs a small shop.

 

A county government spokesman, surnamed Wang, said although SARS cases had indeed been detected in the county, the situation was "not that serious".

 

But serious enough to keep the children at home. A school for the dependants of trade union members has been closed since Monday last week, said a lonely janitor standing in front of the eerily empty schoolyard.

 

"No one at this school had the disease, but we got to make sure," he said.

 

Others were not so lucky, according to a county education official, who said nearly all schools in the city had been closed down.

 

"Some students or teachers were found to have caught the disease. It is to prevent infections," he said.

[Mick]

As always, thanks for posting this info Tony. We just received word from one of the foreign teachers at the university where I taught in China before coming to the States. Two of the six foreign teachers there are part of an exchange program with a university in Washington State. One of them wrote us to say that they have both been recalled by the organization who runs the exchange program. In fact, she stated that this organization is recommending that all its foreign teachers leave China. This is a sad situation.

[chinadave2001]

In Qingdao they have cancelled all the English Corners where the foreign teachers meet the public at large. I wonder what will come next.

[tonado]

SARS likely spread through hard-hit Hong Kong apartment's sewage pipes: report

 

By Min Lee, Associated Press, 4/17/03

 

HONG KONG — A SARS patient with diarrhea infected other people in a Hong Kong apartment complex as the disease apparently spread into homes through a sewage pipe linked to poorly sealed water drains, an official report said Thursday.

 

More people who came down with severe acute respiratory syndrome in Block E of the Amoy Gardens apartments also got diarrhea, creating huge amounts of contaminated feces that spread the virus through pipes in Hong Kong's biggest outbreak of the flu-like illness, said the health secretary, Dr. Yeoh Eng-kiong.

 

Rats and cockroaches also may have spread SARS, but only incidentally after they picked it up around the apartments, Yeoh told a news conference.

 

"They were just passive, mechanical carriers," Yeoh said, adding that rats captured by the investigators did not come down with SARS symptoms.

 

There is no evidence of airborne transmission, Yeoh said.

 

At least 324 people were infected in Amoy Gardens, where SARS also was apparently spread through person-to-person contact and in common areas, such as elevators, lobbies and staircases, according to the report made by several Hong Kong government agencies.

 

The SARS outbreak in Amoy Gardens has been the most alarming in Hong Kong, where the disease has infected 1,297 people and killed at least 65. Four new deaths and 29 new cases were reported Thursday.

 

About 40 percent of the SARS cases in Amoy Gardens came from one building, called Block E, that was evacuated at one point with all of its residents moved into holiday camps that were turned into makeshift quarantine centers.

 

The disease was brought to Amoy Gardens by an infected man who visited his brother there on March 14 and March 19, Yeoh said. The outbreak peaked in Block E on March 24 and three days later spread to residents of other blocks.

 

Yeoh said that once the virus got into the waste pipe in Block E, droplets carrying it apparently moved up through people's bathroom drains when U-shaped water seals dried out. Fans apparently helped suck the virus particles into homes, he said.

 

One resident of Block E told The Associated Press the report's findings sounded right and she called on officials to focus on calming the public and stopping the spread of SARS.

 

"We have long suspected it could be problems with the sewage system -- the apartments are so close together," said Anna Yuen, 45, who lives in Block E with her husband and three children.

 

"We were scared at first but after the isolation, we haven't seen any outbreak like what we had before," Yuen said by telephone. "I believe the situation has come under control."

 

The pneumonia-like illness has killed at least 166 people and infected more than 3,000 worldwide. Mainland China and Hong Kong have reported 65 deaths each. Singapore has 15 SARS deaths, Canada 13, Vietnam five, Thailand two and Malaysia one.

 

Meanwhile, the world's second most populous nation reported its first SARS case Thursday.

 

Authorities in India said a 32-year-old man in the western state of Goa contracted the disease after traveling to Hong Kong and Singapore, S.P. Agarwal, the government's director-general of health services, told a news conference.

 

Prashil Varde, an Indian marine engineer, returned home to Goa on April 3, he was treated by a private doctor for cough and fever, two of the symptoms of SARS, said Dr. Shivlal, director of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases. He uses only one name.

 

The man and his wife, who has not tested positive for the virus, have been isolated, Agarwal said.

 

The World Health Organization has said scientists have confirmed the identity of the SARS virus, a key step toward finding drugs to fight it.

 

In Singapore, airline passengers arriving from some SARS-stricken areas were being scanned for fever by military-grade equipment adapted for the war on SARS.

 

Those who show up on a camera screen as "hot bodies," or with a temperature above 99.5 degrees, will be pulled aside to have their temperature taken by a nurse, said Evelyn Ong, a spokeswoman at the Defense Science and Technology Agency.

 

In Beijing, universities said Thursday they have canceled activities and some classes to prevent the spread of SARS, breaking with earlier official insistence on continuing public events.