Job Discussion Forums

[Roger]

Hello folks!

I thought you might want to be advised of current health concerns.
On Wednesday, 12 February, panicked Chinese in Guangdong and Hong Kong made a mad rush to shops in order to buy white vinegar! I didn't notice it myself but several locals tipped me off, and it made headline news on the evening newsreel!
A bizarre new pneumonia had broken out, with several hundred people reporting acutely sick in the Pearl River Delta.
Two people died in Guangzhou, one in Shenzhen.

Why the vinegar?
Apparently, they burn it indoors to "kill the germs in the air".

Reminds me of how they do preventative work in my school: During work time, they closed windows and doors (very, very rare!), then lit a kind of torch which then burned sulphur - "to kill the germs in the air".
Well, we all started coughing and gasping for air, but we don't know if those who failed to show up the next day caught the flu on the street or back home!

Well, it is both a joke and a serious issue - the way they go about mitigating an epidemic is laughable, yet the epidemics are not rare (crowdedness helping them).
There also is the latent danger of dengue fever, which broke out last year and was spreading fast until the winter put a temporary stop to it.

Just about once a year, chickens here take a huge toll as they contract chicken flu, which is suspected of being contagious for humans.

I can report on these things safely sheltered in a less-congested locality and having access to a sauna (which probably is the sole reason why I haven't suffered a serious cold in the last two winters).

You are less safe in crowded buses, shopping malls and roads!

[Bertrand]

Everything in China is both a joke and a serious issue! That's why it is still a third world state (forget those large concrete jungles they have produced with Korean, Japanese, and Hong Kong money - more than 1 billion of China's populace is still rural and primative).

[Edward]

When the news started leaking out among the locals about a "strange disease", I found out about it on a Saturday, the 8th of Feb. People who worked in local hospitals began calling their relatives and reported that there were people being sent from outside of GZ to their hospitals. One aunt who worked in the hospital told her niece of medical staff falling ill to the disease as well. These phone calls came directly to me from my girlfriend while she was at work.

The next day, Sunday, more phone calls, more worries. The number of people in the hospital was now being put at a few hundred, a floor [or two] had been put under quarantine, and now the news was a large number of them were medical staff yet again. The nursing and medical staff at the hospital were called to a meeting, and then they were instructed to purchase the vinegar to boil at home to ward off...? What exactly, know one knew for sure. That late afternoon my girlfriend went to purchase it, and already store shelves were bare. The local mom and pop shop delivered to us hours later two large bottles of vinegar from a shipment they had just received.

The next day, I went to visit some Chinese friends, and asked if they had heard about it. One woman was actually online trying to find information about it. I had already sent an Email the night before to the CDC website alerting them to a possible outbreak of an unknown virus or illness in the GZ area. I gave them the names, addresses, and phone numbers to six hospitals around the city as well. The woman I was visiting decided to call a friend who was a director at the University of Chinese Medicine. He did in fact clarify what I had told her, and said that yes, a few people had died, one being a doctor and another being on the medical staff. He told her what to purchase at the drugstore, and of course she was off with me in a big hurry!

When we arrived [this is now Monday by the way] at the drugstore, there was already a sign at the register saying more or less in Chinese "Don't ask, we don't have it". There were about 10 people in the line, so the panic had already gotten well under way. I decided to leave her to her task and went in search of some of my foreign friends.

I first went to Elephant and Castle, but of course no one was there, it being Monday. I then went to Hillbar, where a few of my friends from Germany/Austria were having drinks at the bar. I began quizzing them about the virus rumors and they knew nothing about it. One is married to a Chinese girl, so he at once called her. She called some friends and then the calls began rolling in again.

This is where I realized how dependent we become on our inside connections. To this day, even after the news broke out, which wasn't until at least Wednesday I believe [as stated earlier by someone] the truth on the numbers never came out, on the sick and the dead. Also, it is doubtful it was or is pneumonia. At the end of last week, either Thursday or Friday, new information came in from "connections" that the hospitals were still experiencing a lot of influx of people falling ill to "something", to the point of saying they were filling up with patients.

This is the China we live in. Keep your eyes open, along with your ears fellow 'pats. Because the gov't of China just doesn't like to say a whole lot!

All the best,
"Medical correspondent, Michael E."

[pistonear]

To, Mike e, Edward & Roger:
What was the mystery illness? Please let us know if you find out. I have heard of menegitis speading like that and also plague. Be very careful!

[Roger]

Pistonear,
don't worry too much - the scare is over! It was some strain of pneumonia.
One bizarre thing about this was that local businesspeople tried to whip up people into buying vinegar, salt and medications! The police eventually started an investigation. The modus operandi was to send SMS to as many mobile phone owners as possible, thus the panic buying!
Health should be on your mind though: There still is latent dengue fever here (an outbreak happened last year!).

But you can easily learn about such things by watching HK TV stations' newsreels or reading international papers from Hong Kong or overseas!

[Paul G]

Mysterious Pneumonia Spreads in Asia


HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - Medical authorities fear an outbreak of pneumonia in Asia may be spreading as new cases are reported in Vietnam, Taiwan and Canada.

Outbreaks of atypical viral pneumonia have been reported in southern China, Hong Kong and Singapore, although experts have not yet confirmed if a single strain is behind the outbreak.

A World Health Organization official said Saturday it was looking at control measures, including how airlines might take precautions to help prevent its spread.

No direct link has been established among the cases, but health experts are monitoring the various outbreaks.

Australia's foreign affairs department said it knew of at least 86 possible cases of atypical pneumonia, mostly among medical staff in the region, and might issue warnings about visiting certain nations.

The Canadian Press reported that a mother and son, who recently arrived from Hong Kong, died in Toronto from atypical pneumonia and four of their relatives have been hospitalized.

In Hanoi, one hospital with infected patients has been quarantined. At least 11 more people were admitted to another hospital after coming down with the same flu-like symptoms, officials said Saturday.

Health experts had previously hoped that the atypical pneumonia had been contained within the Hanoi French Hospital, which closed its doors Tuesday after more than two dozen hospital workers fell ill.

Officials at the Bach Mai Hospital said the new patients were either relatives or had some type of contact with the sick hospital workers. The new cases were being treated in the hospital's tropical disease unit and isolated from the rest of the hospital, said Nguyen Duc Hien, deputy director of the unit at Bach Mai.

The Hanoi outbreak started after an American businessman traveling from Shanghai via Hong Kong apparently infected up to 30 hospital workers, five of whom are listed in critical condition. The unidentified U.S. citizen was evacuated and died in Hong Kong.

Singapore has reported 16 infections and Taipei had three hospitalized with flu-like symptoms, including a husband and wife. A man from the Philippines who visited Vietnam earlier this month also has been diagnosed with atypical pneumonia.

In southern China's Guangdong province, a viral pneumonia outbreak in late January killed five people and sickened 300 others.

In Hong Kong, officials said Saturday that eight more hospital workers have come down with pneumonia, bringing the total number to 37. Two patients were listed in serious condition.

The disease had not spread to the general public, said Hong Kong's Secretary for Health, Food and Welfare Dr. Yeoh Eng-kiong.

``What is very important is infection control, which needs to be put in place,'' said Pascale Brudon, the World Health Organization's representative in Vietnam. ``We need to understand much more about what this disease is and how patients are reacting to different treatment.''

A team of epidemiologists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention arrived in Hanoi on Saturday to gather samples and try to determine what's causing the outbreak. A separate team of French doctors was expected to bring medicine and respirators.

Brudon said the World Health Organization was working with Vietnam's Health Ministry to provide guidelines to airlines to try to keep the outbreak from spreading.

``The plan is to contain the disease and then decide how many people are needed to support the government,'' Brudon said. ``The prime minister is aware and also is working to develop a good plan.''

[Roger]

That's right - the atypical pneumonia scare has now Hong Kong in its grip. They were talking abouyt shuttind down one of their major hospitals because a sizeable number of doctors and nurses had come down with symptoms of this new pneumonia.

[Paul G]

WHO Issues Advisory on Atypical Pneumonia


The World Health Organization warned Saturday that a highly contagious and deadly pneumonia-like illness of unknown cause is fast becoming a ``worldwide health threat.''

In a rare ``emergency travel advisory,'' the health agency said it has received more than 150 reports of what it called ``Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome'' in the past week alone, mostly in southeast Asia. At least three people have died - an American businessman and two people who arrived in Canada recently from Hong Kong.

``Health officials around the world are taking this situation very seriously,'' Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Saturday.

Thompson said his department was ``applying a full-court press to learn more about this outbreak and how it might impact on the United States.''

No cases have been identified in the United States, health officials said. But a doctor believed to be infected was taken off a New York-to-Singapore flight in Germany on Saturday and quarantined.

Two people traveling with him - his wife and another doctor - also were being held for observation at the Wolfgang Goethe University Clinic in Frankfurt, Germany.

In New York, health authorities put hospitals on alert.

Also, a man traveling from Atlanta to Canada is ``reported to have developed some respiratory symptoms,'' said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Doctors do not know what causes the illness, which has not responded to treatments for bacterial or viral infections. The potentially fatal illness is believed to spread ``person to person'' and have an incubation period of two to seven days, Gerberding said.

``Until we can get a grip on it, I don't see how it will slow down,'' WHO spokesman Dick Thompson said in Geneva. ``People are not responding to antibiotics or antivirals. It's a highly contagious disease and it's moving around by jet. It's bad.''

The growing list of countries reporting cases of the illness include China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Most cases involve medical workers.

One of the most severe outbreaks has been in Hanoi. A CDC team of epidemiologists flew to the Vietnamese capital Saturday and gathered samples from people who may be infected. The samples were immediately flown to Atlanta for laboratory testing.

``SARS is now a worldwide health threat,'' Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, the WHO's director general, said in a statement issued in Geneva. ``The world needs to work together to find its cause, cure the sick, and stop its spread.''

The Singapore doctor began suffering symptoms while in New York, said Dr. Angela Wirtz, a health official in the German state of Hessen, where the patient is being treated.

The man recently attended a New York conference, but it was not immediately known exactly when he was in the city, the nature of the meeting or which airline he used.

There was concern the doctor may have infected others on board.

Another 155 passengers who deplaned in Frankfurt were quarantined at the airport. German nationals were released while passengers in transit to other cities in Europe were awaiting travel permission from those countries, German health officials said. They did not give a breakdown of number of travelers or destinations.

Eighty-five people bound for Singapore and the plane's 20-member crew continued their journey but were to be quarantined upon arrival, health officials said.

The WHO advisory urged travelers who may have come in contact with someone infected to watch for symptoms such as high fever, coughing and shortness of breath.

SARS also may be associated with headache, muscular stiffness, loss of appetite, confusion, rash and diarrhea.

The advisory did not call for restrictions on travel to any destination but said people who suspect they may have the illness should seek medical attention and not travel until they recover.

WHO officials said they could not remember issuing such a travel advisory before.

The illness is a ``worldwide health threat,'' Brundtland said. ``The world needs to work together to find its cause, cure the sick, and stop its spread.''

While no formal travel restrictions are in place, U.S. health officials said travelers may wish to postpone nonessential trips to the countries at risk, Gerberding said. Health officials are preparing to issue an alert for passengers returning from countries where SARS has been reported.

In Atlanta, the CDC emergency operations center has been activated and its staff is working around the clock. U.S. health officials are in contact with health officials in China, where cases have been reported for at least several weeks.

``We are doing everything humanly possible to learn what is causing this outbreak,'' Thompson said from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, before flying to Washington.

The Hanoi outbreak started after an American businessman traveling from Shanghai via Hong Kong apparently infected up to 30 hospital workers, five of whom now are in critical condition. The unidentified U.S. citizen was evacuated and died in Hong Kong.

In southern China's Guangdong province, an illness has in recent months killed five people and sickened more than 300 with pneumonia. The public health bureau there had no comment Saturday while calls went unanswered at the same agency in Guangzhou city.

In Canada, Toronto Public Health officials said a woman died March 5 and her adult son died March 13 after arriving recently from Hong Kong. Four of their relatives have been hospitalized.

The illness also might have emerged in British Columbia, Canada, where one person was in intensive care at a Vancouver hospital and another person has recovered, Toronto health officials said.

Health officials have set up a hot line in Toronto for people who fear they have the illness.

[whitjohn]

This illness only made the national US news this weekend. I had heard about on this site and then CNN and Fox started broadcasting the info on Fri 14 Mar.

[jennyn]

SARS and other such nasties......I am travelling to Hong Kong and southern China next week (for 2 weeks only), and am slightly preterbed by the reports of this mystery illness. As there appears to be no cure for this disease, there isn't much one can do to prevent it.

However, what can be done to prevent other nasties. What injections do you recommend should a person decide to work in China for a reasonable length of time? I presume Hepatitus A & B would be top of the list, closely followed by Tetanus.....what about Typhoid? Any other suggestions on medical equipment/precautions that can be taken prior to leaving a "safe" country?

[ChinaLady]

talked to a Chinese doctor this past weekend. his advice - "wash your hands." like all the time. carry a small bar of soap with you. he has had to train his nurses in his clinic how to wash their hands. like really scrub them. he fully believes that most of the "viruses" that go around China come about because people do not wash their hands with soap and water. before you eat, after you eat, before you use the bathroom, after you use the bathroom, before you handled dishes or glasses, well, you get the idea. Mao really tried to instruct the people in basic hygiene but it all gets lost in the field of rush, rush - make money!!
and he said the vinegar thing was a real joke. some merchant had a lot of vinegar to unload.
ah, yes, live and learn. and yes, you are right. the news about illness is hidden in China. basic thought? we do not talk about it, it does not exist!

[Edward]

China Lady speaks the truth, we all know it yet we all skimp, cheat, and cut corners at times when it comes to hygien, so what do you think the POOR and UNEDUCATED do? *shivers

I found a great product about 8 months ago and carry it in my school bag, and keep a supply at home and in my dorm. It is one of those anti-bacterial hand washes that doesn't require water. I used it in the states too. I found it in both Trust Mart and Park and Shop. It's called "Soho Touch". It comes in a small bottle [with a pink cap] about 4 inches high.