SARS
Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome
May 19,
2003
Other
disease surprises, like SARS, are anticipated by health officials.
SARS is running wild in Taiwan. We suggest that you stay out of US Chinese communities and restaurants for the time being. US Chinese travel to and from Taiwan by the thousands, and they may not get the message. Some will panic when they hear a relative in Taiwan has SARS, and they will fly to Taiwan to see them or their family. There is a very poor fear level for ANYTHING in the US culture. Fear is the first tool to stop this epidemic.
May 6,
2003
Lancet Medical Journal from the UK reports that in China most deaths from SARS
is among those over 60 years of age. Half of the over-sixties people infected
with SARS die of the disease. The application: Older people must not take undue
risks in nations where SARS is active. Older people should be self-quarantined
from those they know, or suspect, have SARS. This does not mean those with SARS
should be careless and cavalier about the illness. The problem is that the window
between infection and the onset of the symptoms is very dangerous to older people.
They must avoid exposure to anyone suspected of being in that window stage,
for they will still be walking about unaware they are dangerous. This was part
of the reason the Black Plague was finally stopped-- well people avoided risk
as well as most sick people.
May 3,
2003
This report comes from China. We are not able to leave up the identity of persons
or locations for privacy reasons.
Since mid-March our city has cautiously watched cities where there is a SARS epidemic (Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Beijing). Within the last two weeks, many changes have taken place here. About half the population is wearing face masks on a daily basis, everywhere they go outdoors. There is a nationwide “clean-up” campaign on television, encouraging people to really pay attention to hygiene (washing hands, etc). All public places have been scrubbed down and sprayed with disinfectant. One school class was interrupted by a worker coming in to spray the room (with what, we don’t know). During this May Day holiday weekend, NO student in our whole city was allowed out of their dormitory. In the kindergartens, primary and middle schools, if any child showed up with as much as a cough, they were sent home to be quarantined. In the complex where we live, there are new restrictions today. NO visitors are allowed in our compound, only residents. Panic is beginning to take hold and people are becoming irrational.
There were reports on TV that if a foreigner was seen coughing or exhibiting symptoms they would be taken immediately to a special hospital for foreigners to be quarantined for 2 weeks. All the schools are giving their teachers strict instructions: We are to have NO visitors in our homes; we must use a disinfectant given us to scrub down our whole house; we must wear a face mask at all times; we must report to the authorities daily with the health conditions of our whole family. We are receiving new and added instructions daily. We don’t really have a clear understanding of the situation in our province because, as everywhere, the true conditions are not being reported. We heard from friends about a special vehicle which came and took away some people here and there. One of the women we know is an (-----------------) officer. She told us that there was a special meeting and that the situation in our province was going to worsen dramatically in the next few weeks.
The Chinese people as a whole are very superstitious and there are many rumors such as, if you smoke, the cigarette smoke will kill the virus. Many people who exhibit symptoms are afraid to go to the hospitals because they feel that it’s sure death for them. Because jobs are so hard to find here, there are millions of countryside workers in the big cities. If they get the disease, they will not go to the hospitals— instead, they flee back to their hometowns because they want to “die at home.” So, they are further spread the disease.
In (--------------), many people are adamant about their spouses staying home because they don’t want them in a crowd of people. Even if we got the disease, there is no way we would be allowed to leave the country to return to our home country for health care.
We pray that God would use this to turn people’s hearts to Him; that people would be saved and that we would be found faithful.
April
20, 2003
As of today, I have received regular reports from the World Health Organization
on SARS. Though WHO has some spotty history as to getting things right with
AIDS and other epidemics, they seem to be on top of this one and forcing the
Chinese to tell the truth. Based on their findings, and the progress of the
SARS epidemic, I must greatly reduce my expectations of danger from SARS for
two reasons:
1. It is progressing very slowly, though it IS on the move worldwide.
2. It is killing maximum 5% of those who contract it. This is not nearly as fearful as E-bola or Cholera. Also, the reasons for death may include other factors, such as collateral infections and reduced immune systems of the victims.
Thus, let us be cautious, travel less to other nations, and simply watch the thing for now.
April 26,2003
Reuters reports: "A leading British virologist offered reassurance on Friday
that the SARS virus was not infectious enough to cause a world pandemic. 'This
virus is not highly infectious. It is a plodder like mumps, not a greyhound
like measles,' said John Oxford, professor of virology at Queen Mary School
of Medicine in London.
With a 'greyhound' virus, escaping infection is very difficult. But with plodder viruses, someone could walk 100 times into the same room as an infected person and still not be infected, he added in an interview. If the SARS virus was highly infectious, there would have been many more cases than the few thousand so far reported in China. 'I don't think there is any evidence of mutation,' he said.
Oxford, an expert on the influenza virus, said SARS should certainly not be compared with the Spanish influenza pandemic that killed millions after the end of the first world war in 1918. He said Chinese government measures, such as closing schools, to stop the virus spreading were 'very positive' but the situation outside South East Asia was different and did not require special containment measures…"
All suggestions
on the page are not to be taken as professional
medical observations by Steve Van Nattan. You should see your
doctor at once if you believe you have SARS. It is NOT a shame
to be sick with a very infectious disease, and SARS is not an
STD. So, do NOT avoid identifying SARS in yourself or in your
loved ones-- you could just make a lot more people sick, and
the longer you put off treatment, the more chance you will die.
SARS:
DEFEND YOURSELF AND FAMILY