Posted on 05/17/2003 10:10:35 AM PDT by EternalHope
WHO says majority of SARS outbreaks almost over; China still struggling
EMMA ROSS Canadian Press
Saturday, May 17, 2003
LONDON (AP) - The majority of the SARS outbreaks around the world are coming to an end, the World Health Organization said Saturday.
Difficult struggles remain in mainland China, but the epidemic there, although very large, is no more complex than it is in other countries and the government is making great strides, said Mike Ryan, WHO's co-ordinator of the global effort to stop the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus from taking root.
Scientists from 16 SARS-struck locations concluded a one-and-a-half day conference Saturday at the WHO's Geneva headquarters, where they discussed the key factors that allow the virus to spread, how well control measures are working and what remaining questions still need to be answered.
"The message coming out of this meeting is certainly one of great hope. It's one of celebration that the measures are working, but also a call to action because we've got a lot more to do yet before we end this problem," Ryan said in a conference call with reporters.
"The experience across the range of countries involved has been that the control measures that we designed at the beginning of the epidemic have worked. In country after country, we have managed to break the cycle of transmission through the simple implementation of good case finding, contact tracing and isolation practices in hospitals," Ryan said.
"We have seen the number of secondary cases per case dropping systematically in all of the countries to a point now where we believe, in the majority of cases, we are now seeing the epidemics coming to an end," he said.
The main lesson of SARS, which has made more than 7,800 people ill and killed 625 since it first emerged in the Chinese province of Guangdong in November, is to be prepared and organized, Ryan added.
"Managing an outbreak as serious as SARS requires very good collaboration between all services. The lesson for any future epidemics is really how we organize ourselves. We probably need to do that better in future," Ryan said. "It's about having in place good preparedness measures, good communication systems between the different sectors of government, early decision-making and systematic implementation of what's been decided."
Dr. Margaret Chan, director of Hong Kong's Department of Health, said epidemiologists at the meeting concluded that the pattern of the SARS outbreaks is similar in different places.
The belief that SARS is spread almost exclusively by droplets from coughing and sneezing emerged clearly from the discussions, Chan said.
It is possible that the virus could be contracted through feces if it becomes so fine that it can be inhaled, the scientists concluded, but there is scant evidence that it can be spread by feces-contaminated hands touching mouths.
"There is not a lot of evidence to suggest that the fecal-oral route is playing a part in driving this epidemic. We have to look at this issue because we have seen that the virus can be excreted in feces, but this is not driving the epidemic as we understand it at the present time," Ryan said.
Questions remaining include whether there are people who have caught the virus but did not get sick enough to be noticed and whether people can spread the bug before they develop symptoms.
Ryan said there is some evidence that there are mild cases, but that there is no sign that those sufferers have spread the virus.
The same is true for those who have been quarantined and later developed SARS.
"We are reiterating that there is no sign of infection coming from people before they start developing symptoms," said Angus Nicoll, from Britain's Health Protection Agency. "There are one or two circumstances that need further investigation, but nobody was reporting that as a phenomenon."
Oh good grief. Pure politically correct BS.
The problem in China is no more complex than in other countries? Gimme a break.
Guess Taiwan must be coming under control too. Or maybe Taiwan does not count (not a member of the WHO, ya know).
This is one of the stupidest things I have heard from the WHO. There must be a lot of political pressure right now, especially from China.
For info about the claim you reference, you might want to read post #10 here:
Experts Claim to have Discovered SARS Antibodies
BTW: Your statement that I despise the Chinese is untrue, and an insult. However, I do despise their government. Likewise, I consider the Chicom "The People's Daily" a source of propaganda, not truth.
625 deaths, Oh my! This is a real terror in the world today, we should all be panicing. BTW, can anyone express this a percentage of all deaths that normally occur yearly so we can see it in it's full magnitude (no scientific notation please)?
Yo, Ms. Emma Ross
I got some swamp land I'd like to sell you.
I agree, this story is politically correct BS.
SARS - Treatment/Containment tables - updated with Friday and Saturday numbers here
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