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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Robin David John on April 2, 2003, at 17:38:51
Goldmedal
Date Apr 2, 2003 - 4:02:01 PM
Subject History Of SARS
Your Message South China Morning Post, March 27, 2003 The date is Friday, February 21. A group of strangers gather in the lift lobby on the ninth floor of a Mongkok hotel, one of them coughing and sneezing. The elevator arrives and they share a brief journey to the ground floor before the doors slide open and they part
company. None could have expected this encounter would set in motion a chain of events that would claim the lives of three in their group and spread disease and fear among hundreds of people worldwide. The man who sneezes is a 64-year-old who has arrived by bus from Guangdong a day ago to attend a wedding. Feeling too sick to attend, however, he is taken to hospital on February 22. His name is Liu Jianlun, and on being admitted to Kwong Wah Hospital, he warns medical staff they should not touch him as he fears he has contracted a "very virulent disease". He tells staff he is a professor in respiratory medicine at Zhongshan University in Guangzhou and has been treating patients with atypical pneumonia at the university's no.2 hospital. His colleagues in the intensive care unit have fallen ill one by one. Health authorities in Hong Kong discover that the professor showed symptoms of the disease on February 15, at which point in time he would still have been on the mainland. According to the World Health Organization, the incubation period for the virus is between two and seven days. Was Liu motivated to come to Hong Kong for a wedding, or was
there an underlying motive of seeking medical help across the border, away from the hospital where the disease struck his colleagues?
On March 4, Liu dies in isolation. Over the next few days and weeks, 70 medical staff at the hospital are struck down, as well as 17
medical students. Hospital staff take the virus home to their families, infecting
eight children. Classes at their schools are suspended.
The date is February 23. Kwan Siu-chu, a 78-year-old visitor from Toronto, checks out of the Metropole Hotel, where the man is in the lift lobby sneezed, and begins her homeward journey. On arrival in Toronto, she is reunited with her family. But she soon falls ill and is taken to Scarborough Grace Hospital, where she dies on March 5. Five members of her family are found to be infected and taken to the same hospital. Her son, 44, loses his fight against the disease eight days after his mother. Another hotel guest, an American-Chinese businessman from Shanghai, checks out of the Metropole. He catches a plane to Hanoi where, two days later, he is admitted to hospital. He spreads the virus to staff at the French Hanoi Hospital before being flown to Hong Kong on March 6. He is treated at Princess Margaret Hospital, where he dies on March 13. A Vietnamese nurse who cared for him dies, along with the three other people, and the virus spreads to 50 workers at two Hanoi hospitals.
The date is February 24. A 26-year-old man who has visited friends at the hotel where the man sneezed on February 21 begins to feel unwell. He thinks nothing of it, by by March 5 he is admitted to Ward 8A in the Prince of Wales Hospital. Days later, his sister falls ill and is taken to Princess Margaret Hospital, having already infected at least three of her colleagues. One joins her at Princess Margaret Hospital, while the others are admitted to the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital on March 14. A female hospital worker returns home from treating the patients at Eastern Hospital. She passes the virus to her 15-year-old son, a student at St Joan of Arc Secondary School in Braemar Hill, which later suspends classes. The date is February 25. Three young Singaporean tourist end their four-day stay at the hotel where the man in the lift lobby sneezed. The return to Singapore, and are later taken to hospital. They spread the virus to at least 17 medical workers, including a doctor who leaves for New York after treating atypical pneumonia patients. During the flight, he begins to feel unwell and is taken off the plane in Frankfurt. The date is March 2. A Canadian man of 72 who has stayed at the Metropole since February 12 is transferred from St Paul's Hospital, where he has infected three workers, to Queen Mary Hospital.The date is March 10. The Hospital Authority announces the outbreak of atypical pneumonia. THE TOLL, AS OF 26 MARCH 2003 WORLDWIDE* 18 DEATHS 516 INFECTED HONG KONG 10 DEATHS 316 INFECTED *These figures include Hong Kong but not the mainland. Many secondary infections are not recorded
April 2, Government announces on television that 1. SARS is going to be around for a little while yes and is a dangerous
diseaseI believe that Aids started with one person and millions have died and millions are still infected with no know cure. And I also don't take any germ killer lightly, should you?
Robin
Posted by OddipusRex on April 2, 2003, at 18:05:59
In reply to SARS UPDATE, posted by Robin David John on April 2, 2003, at 17:38:51
I've been following that story closely. I think it is very frightening. If this disease is airborne it could be a nightmare. Is there any public panic in Toronto? I have a very difficult time finding any details about the cases in the US. It makes me want to stock up on supplies and get some surgical masks for going out just in case it starts spreading. Thanks for posting.
Posted by justyourlaugh on April 2, 2003, at 18:09:12
In reply to SARS UPDATE, posted by Robin David John on April 2, 2003, at 17:38:51
i live in ontario 10km from york county(southlake)
i am afraid to send the kids to school..
but i do,they are annoying..
.
seriously how scared do we need to be?
jyl
Posted by Robin David John on April 2, 2003, at 18:48:16
In reply to Re: SARS UPDATE » Robin David John, posted by OddipusRex on April 2, 2003, at 18:05:59
There is some panic up here with the ones that are looking at this virus seriously, and that is because, the panic comes because we see people not taking it seriously..the police had to lock up people in mental health wards because they do not want to stay away from the puplic..or in (spelling) corintened
Posted by Robin David John on April 2, 2003, at 18:58:53
In reply to Re: SARS UPDATE » Robin David John, posted by justyourlaugh on April 2, 2003, at 18:09:12
Working as an inside Government worker..I must say that this virus is not dead yet and all precausions should be taken till they know for sure there is no threat..and in the mean time any information that I can give the forum I will ..the government does not want to put a panic in the community and they say just what they have to..and thats it..let me tell you that in Ontario there are a lot of cases and these people were diagnosed after they became ill..they spread the virus with anyone they came in contact( stores ,family ,friends,public transportation and so on ..you get my drift i'm sure) with during the period they did not feel they were sick...as you know it takes 2 to 11 days before these people knew they were sick..this is a deadly virus thats all I can tell you now, other than there is no know cure and people are recovering..
Robin
Posted by cybercafe on April 5, 2003, at 23:40:27
In reply to Re: SARS UPDATE, posted by Robin David John on April 2, 2003, at 18:58:53
> Working as an inside Government worker..I must say that this virus is not dead yet and all precausions should be taken till they know for sure there is no threat..and in the mean time any information that I can give the forum I will ..the government does not want to put a panic in the community and they say just what they have to..and thats it..let me tell you that in Ontario there are a lot of cases and these people were diagnosed after they became ill..they spread the virus with anyone they came in contact( stores ,family ,friends,public transportation and so on ..you get my drift i'm sure) with during the period they did not feel they were sick...as you know it takes 2 to 11 days before these people knew they were sick..this is a deadly virus thats all I can tell you now, other than there is no know cure and people are recovering..
> Robinummm... i'm also up here in toronto, watch a lot of tv, and from what i've heard you don't actually spread the disease to others until you enter a feverish state
they seem to think it will be over with soon (from what i've heard anyway) but if you see the steps they are (finally) taking it's pretty extreme ... no visitors to hospital, everyone washes hands and wears masks upon entry ...
yeah it might get a lot worse... but i think the fatality rate is only about 4%, which is probably only the very young or old... so personally i'm not too worried about dying from it ....
Posted by IsoM on April 6, 2003, at 12:13:04
In reply to Re: SARS UPDATE, posted by cybercafe on April 5, 2003, at 23:40:27
> > "ummm... i'm also up here in toronto, watch a lot of tv, and from what i've heard you don't actually spread the disease to others until you enter a feverish state"
Authorities admit they don't know enough about this virus to even say what family of viruses it comes from, but it is believed to be at its most contagious BEFORE the symptoms show - one may start to feel a little ill but isn't aware that they may have it yet. You don't need to be feverish to spread this virus. They said the fever isn't even that high - about 38°C. The normal body temperature is 37° but an adult can feel pretty miserable with even a low fever.
Posted by Dinah on April 6, 2003, at 12:17:12
In reply to Re: SARS UPDATE » cybercafe, posted by IsoM on April 6, 2003, at 12:13:04
I thought they had determined it was a type of coronavirus that is most well known for causing the common cold? If so, I hope they have more success at figuring out a way to prevent it.
Posted by IsoM on April 7, 2003, at 1:32:24
In reply to Re: SARS UPDATE » IsoM, posted by Dinah on April 6, 2003, at 12:17:12
I'm not sure, Dinah, medical experts still aren't certain what family for sure. They did say it may belong to the coronavirus family, the one that causes colds but that it's unlike any other in that family. That's why they think it may be a mutation. Viruses mutate easily & pass genetic material back & forth between each other, the way people exchange money - it could be something that doesn't even belong to any known family. Most viruses are classified only when they do harm & the majority don't.
There are literally millions of different viruses. The way they're classed is according is according to what host they use, their chemical composition (protein, lipid envelope, protein coat, etc) & shape, size, & sysmmetry, & whether they contain DNA or RNA. There are about 20 virus families (I'm no expert so I won't say anything I'm not positive about) - it's all very confusing for even medical experts. I've been trying to follow the it as best as I can. I suppose to us ordinary people, it matters little to what family it's in.
This is the end of the thread.
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