Killer Flu : World Health Org. Issues Warning

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
<a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/2003/pr23/en/"; target="_blank">http://www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/2003/pr23/en/</a>;



here it is for lazy clickers:



World Health Organization issues emergency travel advisory



Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Spreads Worldwide



15 March 2003 | GENEVA -- During the past week, WHO has received reports of more than 150 new suspected cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), an atypical pneumonia for which cause has not yet been determined. Reports to date have been received from Canada, China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Early today, an ill passenger and companions who travelled from New York, United States, and who landed in Frankfurt, Germany were removed from their flight and taken to hospital isolation.



Due to the spread of SARS to several countries in a short period of time, the World Health Organization today has issued emergency guidance for travellers and airlines.



?This syndrome, SARS, is now a worldwide health threat,? said Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director General of the World Health Organization. ?The world needs to work together to find its cause, cure the sick, and stop its spread.?



There is presently no recommendation for people to restrict travel to any destination. However in response to enquiries from governments, airlines, physicians and travellers, WHO is now offering guidance for travellers, airline crew and airlines. The exact nature of the infection is still under investigation and this guidance is based on the early information available to WHO.



TRAVELLERS INCLUDING AIRLINE CREW: All travellers should be aware of main symptoms and signs of SARS which include:



? high fever (&gt;38oC)



AND



? one or more respiratory symptoms including cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing



AND one or more of the following:



? close contact* with a person who has been diagnosed with SARS



? recent history of travel to areas reporting cases of SARS.



In the unlikely event of a traveller experiencing this combination of symptoms they should seek medical attention and ensure that information about their recent travel is passed on to the health care staff. Any traveller who develops these symptoms is advised not to undertake further travel until they have recovered.



AIRLINES: Should a passenger or crew member who meets the criteria above travel on a flight, the aircraft should alert the destination airport. On arrival the sick passenger should be referred to airport health authorities for assessment and management. The aircraft passengers and crew should be informed of the person?s status as a suspect case of SARS. The passengers and crew should provide all contact details for the subsequent 14 days to the airport health authorities. There are currently no indications to restrict the onward travel of healthy passengers, but all passengers and crew should be advised to seek medical attention if they develop the symptoms highlighted above. There is currently no indication to provide passengers and crew with any medication or investigation unless they become ill.



In the absence of specific information regarding the nature of the organism causing this illness, specific measures to be applied to the aircraft cannot be recommended. As a general precaution the aircraft may be disinfected in the manner described in the WHO Guide to Hygiene and Sanitation in Aviation.



* * *



As more information has become available, WHO-recommended SARS case definitions have been revised as follows:



Suspect Case



A person presenting after 1 February 2003 with history of :



? high fever (&gt;38oC)



AND



? one or more respiratory symptoms including cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing



AND one or more of the following:



? close contact* with a person who has been diagnosed with SARS



? recent history of travel to areas reporting cases of SARS



Probable Case



A suspect case with chest x-ray findings of pneumonia or Respiratory Distress Syndrome



OR



A person with an unexplained respiratory illness resulting in death, with an autopsy examination demonstrating the pathology of Respiratory Distress Syndrome without an identifiable cause.



Comments



In addition to fever and respiratory symptoms, SARS may be associated with other symptoms including: headache, muscular stiffness, loss of appetite, malaise, confusion, rash, and diarrhea.



* * *



Until more is known about the cause of these outbreaks, WHO recommends that patients with SARS be isolated with barrier nursing techniques and treated as clinically indicated. At the same time, WHO recommends that any suspect cases be reported to national health authorities.



WHO is in close communication with all national authorities and has also offered epidemiological, laboratory and clinical support. WHO is working with national authorities to ensure appropriate investigation, reporting and containment of these outbreaks.



*Close contact means having cared for, having lived with, or having had direct contact with respiratory secretions and body fluids of a person with SARS.







For more information contact:





Dick Thompson - Communication Officer

Communicable Disease Prevention, Control and Eradication

WHO, Geneva

Telephone: (+41 22) 791 26 84

Email: [email protected]

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 17
    stunnedstunned Posts: 1,096member
    This is scary.
  • Reply 2 of 17
    brbr Posts: 8,395member
    WHO issued the warning.
  • Reply 3 of 17
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    i blame canadia



    seriously though it is scary
  • Reply 4 of 17
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    s/flu/pneumonia/g
  • Reply 5 of 17
    drewpropsdrewprops Posts: 2,321member
    BR asked:

    [quote] WHO issued the warning <hr></blockquote>





    Yes.
  • Reply 6 of 17
    drewpropsdrewprops Posts: 2,321member
    Also, why do so many disease vectors originate out of Asia? It's just a curious phenomenon. Is it the denser population perhaps?
  • Reply 7 of 17
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    &lt;seinfeld&gt;Good luck with all that.&lt;/seinfeld&gt;
  • Reply 8 of 17
    Look no further than Fort Detrick.



  • Reply 9 of 17
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    [quote]Originally posted by Samantha Joanne Ollendale:

    <strong>Look no further than Fort Detrick.



    </strong><hr></blockquote>





    No end to the anti-american comments huh? Maybe your leader Saddam did this one?
  • Reply 10 of 17
    [quote]Originally posted by drewprops:

    <strong>Also, why do so many disease vectors originate out of Asia? It's just a curious phenomenon. Is it the denser population perhaps?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I read once that it was the result of farming methods that keep pigs and chickens in close contact. As the bugs jump back and forth between the two species they can mutate enough to jump to humans.



    Sounded plausible, anyway.
  • Reply 11 of 17
    toweltowel Posts: 1,479member
    [quote]Originally posted by drewprops:

    <strong>Also, why do so many disease vectors originate out of Asia? It's just a curious phenomenon. Is it the denser population perhaps?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I believe it's thought that it's a combination of dense human population and living in close proximity to fowl and pigs. The scariness level of influenza depends on its viral coat. Usually the coat just changes a little bit at a time, so that most of our immune systems have a good chance at recognizing it snuffing it out. The annual flu vaccines are based on predicting which of these little changes will predominate in the winter's flu outbreaks. But every now and then a human flu virus picks up a new coat from a pig or fowl flu virus, and is able to baffle our immune systems. I think that the huge 1919 flu outbreak was from pigs; the most recent scary flu outbreak in Hong Kong a few years ago was from chickens (led to the wholesale slaughter of every chicken on the island, IIRC).



    These new flu strains can be real scary because, influenza being a virus, antibiotics obviously don't work; and we don't really have any good anti-flu antivirals. And the same changes in the viral coat that help it evade our immune systems make the current vaccines ineffective. Still, supportive care has come a long way since 1919, and if you can give your immune system enough time to adapt, it'll usually win. As long as you have a functional immune system, which is probably the real danger these days.
  • Reply 12 of 17
    xterra48xterra48 Posts: 169member
    hmm, deadly sickness, showing up in many places at once, Airports, sounds like "12 monkeys" to me.
  • Reply 13 of 17
    mrmistermrmister Posts: 1,095member
    "Look no further than Fort Detrick."



    Very classy.
  • Reply 14 of 17
    willoughbywilloughby Posts: 1,457member
    [quote]Originally posted by Samantha Joanne Ollendale:

    <strong>Look no further than Fort Detrick.

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Another point for you on the "A$$hole meter".



    You've really lost ALL credibility here and make me sick to my stomach to think that you live in this country.



    I can't wait till we have the new vBulletin here. Hopefully it'll have that nice "ignore" feature so I don't have to see you spew this bs anymore. <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[oyvey]" />



    [ 03-16-2003: Message edited by: Willoughby ]</p>
  • Reply 15 of 17
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    you know, her post DID have a with it.



    perhaps she was kidding? even poking fun of her own paranoia?



    who knows.
  • Reply 16 of 17
    tulkastulkas Posts: 3,757member
    My brother and his wife got married last year. They decided then to go on their honeymoon this year and spend a month touring Asia. The made plans etc for the end of March. Iraq was on their minds obviously more so now as war looks pretty imminent, but they figure since they are not planning excursions to countries that are hotbeds for Islamic extremism, they should be ok. They leave in a week and a half...now this WHO warning comes up. Needless to say, they are starting to get a little worried, but not planning to cancel the trip.
  • Reply 17 of 17
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    If they haven't already they may want to go to a doctor to catch up on any shots they may need. My GP asked me once at a check up if I was planning any travel. When I told him it was Holland he didn't seem too worried.



    This "flu" (or whatever) seems to spread rather fast. Many of the hospital workers are getting it and they know how to be careful. It's a little spooky but so far so good.
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