Roger
Hoskins
April 2, 2003
There is no need to panic.
Stanislaus County Public Health Officer John Walker stressed that message
Tuesday, the same day that he met with hospital officials about SARS,
or severe acute respiratory syndrome.
"It is a disease that is related to exposure to a specific geographic
area," Walker said.
Earlier World Health Organization bulletins confined the disease to Hanoi
in Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong and the neighboring province of Guangdong.
The latest alerts take in all of China and Vietnam.
There have been no American deaths, nor have there been any cases reported
in Stanislaus County, though the growing health crisis has affected travel
plans.
Frances Lee, 63, of Modesto has been making an annual trip to China since
1998. This year, she decided to skip her high school reunion after watching
reports of the outbreak on a Chinese news channel, which she receives
via satellite.
Lee said she knows of groups in Los Angeles and San Francisco that are
delaying or canceling trips to China.
Gaye Nelson, co-owner of Always Travel Agency in Modesto, said no one
is booking trips to the Far East.
"Nobody has bought travel there since this happened," Nelson
said. "With what's going on in the world, most people are reanalyzing
travel plans and staying closer to home. No one asks about Europe or the
Far East."
Lyn Abad, manager of Pacific Air in San Francisco, has seen her airlines'
business plummet. "(SARS) has affected it very much, more than the
war." Abad said the number of travelers going to China has been cut
in half.
Stanislaus County officials have been bracing for SARS since mid-March.
Walker said the county sent a fax March 18 to hospitals and doctors,
asking them to get travel histories from patients who report symptoms.
He said the public should stay away from the panic button. "Not
everyone who is exposed gets the disease," he said. "And not
everyone who gets this disease dies."
He stressed the need for a healthy dose of good information. "We
do have the flu here, so not everybody with a cough and fever has SARS."
AT A GLANCE
What does SARS stand for?
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Symptoms:
SARS begins with a fever, sometimes accompanied by chills, headache,
discomfort and body aches. After two to seven days, SARS might include
a cough that can progress to the point where insufficient oxygen is getting
to the blood.
How long is the incubation period?
Two to seven days
How is SARS spread?
SARS appears to be spread by coming in contact with someone with
SARS who coughs or sneezes droplets into the air. It is possible that
it can be spread through objects that have been contaminated.
What to do if you think you may have SARS:
Consult a health-care provider. To help your doctor make a good diagnosis,
tell him or her about any recent travel or whether you have had contact
with someone who had similar symptoms.
On the Net
Sources: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
and the World Health Organization
Reprinted by permission of the Modesto Bee.
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