SARs Contamination Policy

[Avatar]

I am really not happy with China's policy over SARs out break.

Schools and all sectors should be shut.

Those stupid masks are as good as a wooden shield against modern tanks.
Bacterias grow in surgeon masks and they prevent sitting of bacteria on close quarters and large scale but not against air borne SARs.

Viruses don't just go away in a few days, these anti-biotic immune super virus will kill until bekilled or death to humanity.

We fell behind in the anti-biotic race and must now catch up because in the 60s we were confident we had the upper hand.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Hmmmm... none of the options appeal to me really. Personally, I feel that selective quarantine will suffice for now. Contary to most media reports, the outbreak has not reached pandemic levels yet, but will be in danger of reaching such levels if not enough is done.

From what I have read, it seemed that China did not want to alarm its' populance, and I can understand that to a certain degree. Though they really should seriously consider applying quarantine measures( closing schools for example, as you said) in the province(s) that have been affected, but not shut down all the whole country.

If I recall correctly, they have send somebody to the village where SARS is common( and originated from) to study the villagers who seem to be resistant( but not immuned) to SARS. I am guessing they are trying to devise a suitable treatment for current SARS victims by using antibodies from the villagers( like they did over here with antibodies from a Hong Kong woman who has recovered).

My fingers are crossed, but I hope they succeed in finding an easy treatment for SARS.

You know... it is just plain wierd to see the streets that much emptier during peak hours, that and the ominous presence of masks( masks that are mostly useless because people are mostly using the wrong type of masks).

[Dundee Slaytern]

Oh, I forgot to mention something. SARS is not confirmed to be airborne-transmittable. It is suspected that it might be airborne, but until it is confirmed, the only sure way to get SARS is through close contact with a carrier( roughly a 1-meter radius).

In addition, the virus that causes SARS seems to be a mutant-variant of the Corona virus family.

[Avatar]

Originally posted by Dundee Slaytern: Oh, I forgot to mention something. SARS is not confirmed to be airborne-transmittable. It is suspected that it might be airborne, but until it is confirmed, the only sure way to get SARS is through close contact with a carrier( roughly a 1-meter radius). In addition, the virus that causes SARS seems to be a mutant-variant of the Corona virus family.

That is true, though I still believe it is deadly

[Jatelka]

Originally posted by Dundee Slaytern: Oh, I forgot to mention something. SARS is not confirmed to be airborne-transmittable. It is suspected that it might be airborne, but until it is confirmed, the only sure way to get SARS is through close contact with a carrier( roughly a 1-meter radius). In addition, the virus that causes SARS seems to be a mutant-variant of the Corona virus family.

Although interestingly, they seem to think that SARS it not necessarily only spread by close contact (see todays quarintining of an entire apartment block). To me this looks like droplet infection via air con systems or other water pipes (as in Legionella where the bacteria are spread via aerosols of water).

Here's hoping that SARS doesn't cause too much chaos, there's already too much bad stuff going on (SIGH)

[Avatar]

Originally posted by Jatelka: Quote: Originally posted by Dundee Slaytern: Oh, I forgot to mention something. SARS is not confirmed to be airborne-transmittable. It is suspected that it might be airborne, but until it is confirmed, the only sure way to get SARS is through close contact with a carrier( roughly a 1-meter radius). In addition, the virus that causes SARS seems to be a mutant-variant of the Corona virus family.

Although interestingly, they seem to think that SARS it not necessarily only spread by close contact (see todays quarintining of an entire apartment block). To me this looks like droplet infection via air con systems or other water pipes (as in Legionella where the bacteria are spread via aerosols of water).

Here's hoping that SARS doesn't cause too much chaos, there's already too much bad stuff going on (SIGH)[/QUOTE] Goes to show how fragile our existance is when mother nature decides to mess with us.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Spreading through water droplets( or body-fluid droplets if you prefer) and being airborne is rather different.

By close contact, they did not mean that you get the disease by simply being near the carrier, but that the carrier has a chance to infect you through coughing, sneezing or coating you with droplets containing viruses from their hands( which most probably has touched their noses or mouths).

Left alone, the virus dies within 2-3 hours in the open air. This is from memory though, so I may be off a bit on this one.

Air conditioners assist the virus by circulating the droplet that the virus is in to other areas through the vents. This is not true airborne-transmittable though; for that to be accurate, the virus has to be able to survive in the open air( without the droplet) and travel long enough to victims beyond the sneezing range. Powers that be forbid that this is the case though.

[ 04-02-2003, 11:41 AM: Message edited by: Dundee Slaytern ]

[harleyquinn]

Originally posted by Avatar: Quote: Originally posted by Dundee Slaytern: Oh, I forgot to mention something. SARS is not confirmed to be airborne-transmittable. It is suspected that it might be airborne, but until it is confirmed, the only sure way to get SARS is through close contact with a carrier( roughly a 1-meter radius). In addition, the virus that causes SARS seems to be a mutant-variant of the Corona virus family.

That is true, though I still believe it is deadly[/QUOTE]Maybe so, but less then 4% of the recorded cases have resulted in death. There are many diseases out there that we already know of that have a much higher rate than that. Basically, if you want non-sensationalized information, don't look at any of the news stations or webpages, they are just trying to get ratings. Look at the CDC (center for disease control), the WHO (world health organization) and I'm sure there are other of these types of organizations that have non-sensationalized information, I just don't know about them, but please, share them if you know of them.
Heck, the first weekend the reports hit, CNN (or maybe MSNBC, can't remember) was calling it "Killer Virus" even though at that point hundreds had been infected, but only 4 people had actually died.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Credit to the health workers for making the death toll as low as possible. In fact, credit and my gratitude to the Italian who first identified the virus, realised its' potential danger, but unfortunately, lost his life to it.

The thing is, SARS was noted extremely early and those who died were mostly those who did not receive early treatment. What is scary about SARS is not really about its' deadliness, but how infectious it is. One roomful of people can be infected if one of them was a carrier and he/she just sneezed. Hence all the quarantines( well... in my country. Not sure about the others).

[Yorick]

What a nightmare SARs is. Can't believe it....