No SARS symptoms for 42 contact cases ( 2003-12-29 08:11) (China Daily)
None of 42 people who had close contact with a new
suspected case of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Guangdong have
developed a fever or related symptoms, officials said Sunday.
A woman wears a
protective mask as she talks on a mobile phone while waiting for her
relatives from Guangzhou at Hong Kong's train terminal December 28, 2003.
Hong Kong stepped up health checks on travelers from Guangdong
province after the government said a man in Guangzhou had been admitted to
the hospital with symptoms of the deadly SARS disease.
[Reuters]
All the people who were in contact
with the victim are under quarantine now and expected to finish medical
observation within a week.
Among them, 32 are reportedly medical workers.
The 32-year-old freelance television producer, surnamed Luo, with the
suspected SARS infection is now in stable condition and is in isolation at
Guangzhou No 8 People's Hospital, a SARS designation hospital in the Guangdong
provincial capital.
"His condition is stable and his temperature is normal," the Ministry of
Health said on its website www.moh.gov.cn.
A panel of experts determined Luo to be a highly suspected SARS patient on
Friday after finding the SARS coronal virus in one of his lungs.
Experts from the Ministry of Health and Guangdong Province now are working to
confirm whether the person does in fact have SARS, said Deng Haihua, a press
official from the Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, the ministry has asked the World Health Organization (WHO) to
supply a laboratory expert to help verify the results of the tests done so far,
and to help with further investigations, Roy Wadia, media spokesman of WHO
Beijing office, said. The expert is expected to arrive in Beijing today.
The WHO has also recommended samples be sent overseas for international
verification of the test results.
So far the test results have been confusing, with some positives and some
negatives, hence the need for more testing and verification. The test results
will be published in five to seven days, a local doctor from Guangdong said.
Luo who lives in Guangzhou's Panyu District began to have fever, headache and
other symptoms on December 16.
He was diagnosed with pneumonia in Guangzhou No 1 Zhongshan Hospital,
affiliated to Sun Yat-sen University on December 20 and was transferred to
Guangzhou No 8 People's Hospital for isolation treatment on December 24.
If confirmed, Luo will be the world's first SARS patient infected with the
fatal disease outside a laboratory since August.
It is not strange that a suspected SARS patient has surfaced now, said Gao
Qiang, vice-minister of health, during a conference Sunay.
The timing coincides with the common rule of an epidemic.
Experts did not believe China would witness a large scale SARS outbreak this
winter and spring, with the high-level public awareness and the strengthened
surveillance and treatment system after the first outbreak earlier this year.
Country responds to suspected
case
China quickly responded to the latest suspected SARS case in Guangdong
Province.
The Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Public Health informed its Hong Kong and
Macao counterparts of the case to warn them to raise their vigilance to prevent
the disease from spreading in the southern Chinese region, said Wang Zhiqiong,
deputy director general of the bureau, yesterday.
And health inspections in Luohu and other land border checkpoints between
Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and Macao have been expanded, Wang said.
In Beijing, public health departments responded quickly to prevent the spread
of the disease after the latest development.
Hospitals in Beijing were told to strengthen monitoring and examinations of
fever cases, especially those from Guangdong, said Guo Jiyong, deputy director
of the bureau.
Teams at all municipal entry-exit points, including railway stations and
airports, were called up to strengthen temperature screening systems, especially
for travellers from Guangzhou.
Anybody with temperature of over 38 degrees centigrade will be sent to
government-designated hospitals as soon as possible, Guo said.
Many other areas of China, such as Shanghai and Southwest China's Sichuan
Province, have also taken emergency measures to prevent possible epidemic.
Despite the suspected case, restaurants, shopping centres, bars, cinemas, and
other entertainment venues continued to enjoy brisk business over the weekend in
Guangzhou.
A bar operator surnamed Wang said her bar's business went up at least 20 per
cent on Saturday night.
"There is nothing to be afraid of," Wang said.
Qiu Delin, manager of the Beijing-based Guorentang Medicine Shop said sales
of face masks, disinfectors and traditional medicine that was believed to be
effective in preventing SARS in May were usual.
"There have been no hot sales so far after a suspected SARS case was found in
Guangzhou over the weekend," he said.
In another development, at all air, sea and road frontier passes, people
coming in and out Viet Nam are being subjected to temperature examinations, and
anyone with a body temperature above 38 degrees centigrade and flu symptoms will
be quarantined, Xinhua reported yesterday.
Meanwhile, Singapore and Italy have also taken quarantine measures for
Chinese travellers.
