News concentration: Haim Shadami, Haaretz; Gadi Weinerv - YNET, Ma'ariv and Soc
Coping with the disease
Direct link to this page: https://www.hayadan.org.il/sars220403.html
Last week, the World Health Organization officially announced that SARS is caused by a virus from the corona virus family; This was confirmed by the results of tests conducted in several laboratories around the world. This is a family of viruses that usually cause mild colds. The virus itself was not known until today in humans, but in animals. Discovering the cause of the disease will now allow researchers from all over the world to concentrate on finding solutions in dealing with it.
The organization's announcement reduced the level of anxiety in the world even a little. Since the disease was officially reported to the World Health Organization - in February - the cause of the disease was unknown.
The infection of the disease is conditioned by close contact with the sick. Because of this, almost all the patients in the world are medical staff, medical students and members of the patients' families. The possibility that the disease is transmitted through the air is still being investigated. The instructions of the World Health Organization regarding dealing with patients, their isolation and the use of protective measures such as masks and gloves, have proven themselves so far.
There is a possibility that Sars is a "seasonal" disease, like the flu, which will help stop its spread, at least until next winter. As of today, more than 3,500 people have contracted the disease and another 190 have died from it. For comparison: every winter in Israel about 300 people die from the flu and its complications. In a discussion held last week by the Labor, Welfare and Health Committee of the Knesset, Dr. Eli Schwartz, director of the Center for Geographical Medicine in Tel Hashomer, commented: "Although this is a special epidemic, it is marginal in scope, because the rate of infections in the world is one in a million."
"We must fight SARS together"
The deadly disease that sends waves of fear and anxiety throughout the world was met by Dr. Cheng Chuan Lee, an infectious disease expert, in March. Within weeks, he became the head of the department treating patients with the virus, which was also named - SARS (severe respiratory distress syndrome).
In a special interview with Ynet from the "Tan Tok Seng" hospital in Singapore, Dr. Lee says with concern today (Monday): "We must make an international effort to fight the SARS epidemic. Every country needs to treat patients on its territory, but we must be in touch and exchange information in order to try and find a cure - as soon as possible."
How do you deal with the fear of the disease - and the chances of it spreading? Dr. Lee tries to explain in a conversation from the hospital in Singapore, where the SARS patients lie.
How did you identify the first SARS patient?
"The first patient arrived at the beginning of March and complained of a high fever. I treated her for ordinary blue eyes with pneumonia. After a few days I saw that she was not responding to the treatment and we began to understand that something was different here.
"The patient's friends, who had previously visited Hong Kong, also came to the hospital and complained of fever and pain. After five days, the patient's fever rose sharply and she complained of severe chest pains. We informed the health authorities in Singapore about the case and after a few days, when reports arrived From Hong Kong and Toronto - we understood that this is a special disease."
Is there a chance to "protect" against the virus?
"Because we didn't know what the disease was - we weren't careful at first, when we treated the patients. A number of doctors and nurses were infected, as were patients who were admitted to the hospital and came into contact with SARS patients. Now that we know about the disease, we are taking all protective measures among the medical staff and patients. Every Medical staff treating SARS patients are protected by a special suit, which is thrown into the trash at the end of the treatment."
Is there hysteria on the streets of Singapore because of the disease?
"It is important to emphasize: it is not true that everyone walks the streets with masks on their faces. You can say that the people in Singapore are afraid, but it is not hysteria. Most of the cases that have been tested are in the hospital area or among the families and friends of patients who have been infected in other countries. I estimate that the chance of contracting the disease on the train or on the street - He's not big."
Do you see an end to the epidemic?
"I think there should be a joint effort by all the countries in the region to end the epidemic. Each country should control the disease in its area and educate the citizens who have contracted the disease or are suspected of infection not to leave its borders. In addition, it is necessary to strictly isolate the sick until a cure is found."
Do you recommend Israeli tourists to come to Singapore?
"I believe that today it is safe to come to Singapore. As mentioned, most of the cases that contracted the disease are citizens who were in the vicinity of the hospitals where patients or family members, friends, and of course medical teams were hospitalized. As long as the tourists do not come to the hospitals and their surroundings - they are in principle fine. We advise against traveling Necessity for Hong Kong or China. Those who don't have to travel will not travel. In any case, we measure the temperature of every citizen who returns to the territory of Singapore.
The data: thousands of patients, hundreds of dead
The latest data on the spread of the SARS virus in Asia and around the world were published today:
In China, 1,814 people contracted the disease, 79 patients died.
In Hong Kong - about 1,380 contracted the disease, 88 died.
In Singapore - 178 contracted the disease, 16 died.
In Canada, of the 132 cases of the disease, 14 died.
It is also known about at least 3,800 patients worldwide, of which at least 205 have died (for information about the disease on the website of the Ministry of Health).
The Chinese Curse
The government in China admitted that it had lied about the extent of the SARS epidemic, and fired the health minister and the mayor
Ilayel Shahar and Dan Even (Maariv) add:
China's health minister and the mayor of Beijing were fired yesterday amid the spread of the "Sars" epidemic. Commentators explained that the reason for the dismissals was the false information they provided about the extent of the spread of the disease in the country.
The Chinese government has admitted that the number of patients with lung disease is much higher than the official figure published so far, reaching 1,800. The death toll from the disease in China has been updated, and now stands at 79 people. Israeli officials believe that the new data provided are also not real numbers. "Even if the Chinese want to publish real data, they can't," a senior foreign ministry official said yesterday. "China is huge, and it is possible that the disease spread in distant towns and no report of this reached Beijing. No one has any idea what the true extent of the disease is in China."
The dismissals of Minister Zhang Wenkang and Mayor Meng Suanong caused a political earthquake in China. The government announced that it is canceling the May 1 holiday, known as "Golden Week". According to data from the Chinese government, at least 75 million citizens planned to take advantage of the holiday to travel around the country, and the cancellation was intended to prevent the spread of the disease.
China's Ministry of Education and Ministry of the Interior issued a directive to students not to leave campuses during the "Golden Week". "The management of all universities must convince the students and the employees of the educational institutions to take advantage of the holiday break for activities inside the campuses and to avoid going outside them," the Chinese government said in a statement. "We recommend that the students also not visit their parents who live in other cities during this week."
In Singapore, the central vegetable market was closed for ten days, and all 2,400 workers there were quarantined, after it became clear that some of the workers had contracted the virus. One of them died of the disease, and also infected his wife and the driver who drove him to work.
Meanwhile, the fear is growing that, contrary to previous optimistic reports, the cause of the disease may not have been fully identified. The World Health Organization announced that the cause of the disease is a virus from the Corona family, but a spokesman for the Canadian Ministry of Health said yesterday that this virus was detected in only half of the infected patients. Canada is one of the epicenters of the epidemic, and so far more than 300 people have fallen ill there and 14 have died.
In Israel, the SARS alert was lowered yesterday, after the young woman who was hospitalized the day before was released to her home. The young woman, 22 years old, was rushed to the hospital after arriving in Israel from Hong Kong with a high fever. But within a few hours her condition improved, and no respiratory problems were diagnosed. "From a practical point of view, all the doctors who saw her are unanimous that she does not currently have any illness, and she was told to stay at home just to be safe," said Dr. Yigal Halperin, deputy director of Assaf Harofeh Hospital.
A special expert dealing with the pneumonia epidemic
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