Chinese Health Groups Update Efforts against SARS

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, April 02, 2003

Chinese Health Groups Update Efforts against SARS

Chinese health authorities are taking active measures to inform the public of ways to prevent the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

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Chinese health authorities are taking active measures to inform the public of ways to prevent the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the top disease control body under the Ministry of Health, Tuesday posted a bulletin on the Internet to provide more information about SARS to all health officials and the public.

The bulletin was drafted by experts organized by the ministry's Disease Control Department.

It was sent to medical units at various levels throughout the country and acts as a guideline for the disease, said an official from the centre Tuesday who declined to give his name.

SARS, also known as "atypical pneumonia,'' has infected a total of 806 people and killed 34 in China, according to the latest report from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday.

A health official said Tuesday that Chinese health authorities will issue an authoritative report, or press release, on the disease this week, which is expected to provide a more comprehensive picture on the disease.

As long as preventive measures are adopted properly, Chinese citizens and foreigners who either work and live in or pay temporary visits to China are secure from SARS, Foreign Spokesman Liu Jianchao said Tuesday.

"China's sanitation and anti-epidemic departments and other related departments are handling the latest data and information of SARS,'' Liu said at a regular press conference. "Such data and information will be made public soon.''

In the guideline, the centre said the "atypical pneumonia'' is a respiratory tract infectious disease which can be transmitted through close contact, the cause of the disease is still unknown and it has occurred in parts of China.

Between late November and February 28, 792 "atypical pneumonia'' cases were reported in South China's Guangdong Province, the WHO said on Friday.

By March 26, Beijing and North China's Shanxi Province had recorded 10 and four SARS cases, including three deaths in Beijing, according to the WHO, which said all the figures released have been confirmed by the Ministry of Health.

The SARS epidemic in South China's Guangdong Province has been placed under effective control with most of the infected patients either recovering well or recovering fully, the spokesman Liu said.

People are going about their lives and work as normal in the affected areas, the spokesman stressed.

"There are no findings of SARS cases in other areas in China,'' he added.

The guideline has also offered a detailed explanation of the characteristics and prevention measures of the disease, and stresses that people should take correct measures instead of taking medicines blindly and creating panic.

The pneumonia-like virus has so far failed to cause panic among air passengers in the Chinese capital, but has apparently begun to cause losses for some airlines, industry insiders said Tuesday.

"We have been asked to take some preventive medicines and disinfect our workplace and public areas,'' said Wang Bing, an official with the Air Traffic Management Bureau of North China Regional Administration.

Wang, whose bureau is in charge of air-traffic control over Capital International Airport, said traffic is running as normal at present.

But Air China, China's flagship carrier based in Beijing, said it is worried that its passenger volume may shrink because of the spread of the epidemic.

The number of passengers using the Beijing-Hong Kong flights has already fallen over the past few weeks, said an Air China staff member, who asked not to be identified.

In Beijing, gauzes and "Banlangen,'' a traditional Chinese medicine which is widely used to combat common colds, have been disappearing from shelves, with concerned residents stocking up, despite no authoritative unit proving that the medicine can effectively prevent the disease.

In a small drug store named "Guorentang''in Beijing's Chaoyang District, more than 100 boxes of "Banlangen'' and 400 gauzes were sold Tuesday.

Since late November, when the epidemic started in Guangdong Province, the sales of "Banlangen'' has greatly increased. It has skyrocketed in recent days as more Beijingers buy up, said Jian Xiuzhi, an official from Beijing Tong Ren Tang Technologies Co, Ltd.

In hospitals throughout Beijing, almost all medical workers are wearing gauzes, while various clinics and patient waiting areas are being disinfected to prevent the disease, which has infected many health workers through contact with patients. (China Daily News)

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