Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome...

Evil Sadistic Bastard · Post by **Evil Sadistic Bastard** » 2003-04-23 09:33am

...AKA SARS, is currently a major topic in my country. Okay, so it's been a major topic for a couple of months already, but I only realized how desperate the government was to contain it recently.

For example, all schoolchildren from age 9 and above will have their own thermometers with which to record their own temperatures (a fever of 38 degrees and above is a potential symptom of SARS). They are advised to keep their own log books to monitor any dangerous trends.

The same measures apply to military personnel, but it's more troublesome for us. While I can't speak for the other units, I know that over here in the School of Military Medicine, we are getting our own thermometers as well, we have to take our temperatures twice a day, and on top of that, we have to practically disinfect the premises everywhere we go. After our lectures, we have to spray disinfectant on the chairs. Mopping the floors with chlorine bleach is mandatory, as is flushing the entire floor out once a week. Hell, we even have to wear latex gloves during our outdoor lessons in the training sheds, and before we leave, we have to disinfect the place as well!

Some wits in my platoon suggested that we wear chemical suits (incidentally, the MRF - Medical Response Force - is based in our camp as well; they decontaminate and treat casualties of chemical and biological incidents) and set up casualty decontamination stations complete with Fuller's Earth and DKP 1.

Apparently, our sergeant didn't consider that idea too far-fetched.

I just wanted to mention this, because I heard a hospital in Tornto had to close down because of SARS, and if I'm not wrong, Darth Wong lives in Toronto. Just wanted to know how all of this was affecting you guys.

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2003-04-23 10:03am

Some articles in the newspaper, nothing more.

I don't know but I think this SARS thingy getting out of hand!

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-04-23 10:07am

Yes, I live in Toronto, and yes, there's a serious SARS concern. What's scary is that we've had health-care workers get it, despite wearing masks and taking all of the precautions thought to be necessary.

However, we do need to put it in perspective; so far, all of the people who have died from the disease have had some kind of underlying health problem to begin with (hence the fact that they were in hospital). There are dozens of people who have gotten it, gotten OVER it, and then gone home already.

Post by **Gandalf** » 2003-04-23 10:08am

This has affected me as last Saturday I was supposed to fly to China for a 2 week tour, needless to say I think I have just lost $3000. I'm not too heppy about that as you might imagine.

Post by **Colonel Olrik** » 2003-04-23 10:10am

No case reported in Portugal (nor, indeed, in the entire E.U). The real danger, as far as I can tell, is not the present epidemics, but the fact that this kind of virus can easily mutate to something vastly deadlier, maintaining its contagium rate.

My mother is somewhat scared with that perspective (she's a medical doctor).

Post by **Vympel** » 2003-04-23 10:29am

Is it just me, or is SARS a case of making up the acronym before you figure out the words that make it up?

Severe AND acute? Isn't that a little redundant? Which genius thought that one up?

US Military eat your heart out, someone in the medical establishment has you beat.

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2003-04-23 10:37am

Great, just beautiful, I just heard on the news that Toronto just got whacked with a WHO travel advisory, as in they're advising people to stay the hell away from Toronto. Like that's going to work at containing SARS, all it's doing is contributing to panic and lost tourism business.

Post by **Lagmonster** » 2003-04-23 11:08am

aerius wrote:Great, just beautiful, I just heard on the news that Toronto just got whacked with a WHO travel advisory, as in they're advising people to stay the hell away from Toronto. Like that's going to work at containing SARS, all it's doing is contributing to panic and lost tourism business.

Tourism be damned. Containment is an important part of controlling the spread of infection.

I do agree with Mike to some extent - the disease as a threat is being blown out of proportion, and scare-mongering is the order of the day. However, people ARE dying of it, and what makes the virus that causes SARS dangerous is its method and ability to spread even in the face of routine prevention (face masks, washing of hands, etc.). Thus, regardless of how dangerous it is, containment is going to be very important in battling it.

Montcalm · Post by **Montcalm** » 2003-04-23 11:13am

I think Montreal should be included in the warning cause some idiots went to China,just to adopt Chinese babies and with their typical Quebecois mentality they don`t care about SARS.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2003-04-23 11:26am

aerius wrote:Great, just beautiful, I just heard on the news that Toronto just got whacked with a WHO travel advisory, as in they're advising people to stay the hell away from Toronto. Like that's going to work at containing SARS, all it's doing is contributing to panic and lost tourism business.

Not only that but the US government is advising its citizens to avoid ONTARIO...the whole damn Province.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2003-04-23 05:56pm

Vympel wrote:Is it just me, or is SARS a case of making up the acronym before you figure out the words that make it up?

Severe AND acute? Isn't that a little redundant? Which genius thought that one up?

US Military eat your heart out, someone in the medical establishment has you beat.

Well, if it was just "acute respitory syndrome" it would be "ARS" now in england...that would cause smirks definately.

maybe another disease already has srs...

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-04-23 07:52pm

6 cases so far in the UK, no fatalities, the nearest case was in Manchester over an hour from me.

I am following this thing very closely, I get New Scientist every week and that always has an article in it. I look out for news on SARS more than anything about Iraq or local news, but as a biology major it's my duty I guess.

The recent release of the actual numbers in China is alarming, the diseases is rampant and my father is actually considering whether I should go back to uni on Sunday or not due to the large amounts of Asian and Canadian students there (Eton school has put many in a ten day quarantine programme). These guys went home worried about Iraq and are coming home with the thoughts of a deadly virus, not good.

There is some hope though, a vaccine may be possible within the next 12 years, that's amazingly quick considering the disease nature.

Bad news is that it IS mutating at an amazing rate just like Flu. To add some gasoline to the blaze, many virologists are concerned that it may transfer genes between Avian Flu that is also in HK and most of Europe now killing millions of chickens and other birds. If that happens then Spanish Flu is a possibility. I must also add that while most cases have been ill or elderley people dying, in China and HK there have been fit and young people dying too, the strain there must have adapted and become more virulent after crossing the species barrier.

A lot of the alarmist propaganda is helping people become aware of this problem though, may as well hype it up now and prevent the pandemic than wait and doomsay amongst piles of corpses.

And as all this happens what does channel 5ive put on next week? Outbreak. They put Outbreak on at this time even though it was on ITV1 just before Xmas. Methinks the media is being a tad silly here as much as I like that film.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2003-04-23 08:38pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:Bad news is that it IS mutating at an amazing rate just like Flu. To add some gasoline to the blaze, many virologists are concerned that it may transfer genes between Avian Flu that is also in HK and most of Europe now killing millions of chickens and other birds. If that happens then Spanish Flu is a possibility.

My point precisely--possibilities and maybes. Its hardly demonstrated. I'd prefer to play it safe and be wary, but alarmism is something I think is counterproductive, harmful, and socially unhealthy.

Admiral Valdemar wrote:A lot of the alarmist propaganda is helping people become aware of this problem though, may as well hype it up now and prevent the pandemic than wait and doomsay amongst piles of corpses.

My point exactly.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-04-23 11:15pm

Vympel wrote:Is it just me, or is SARS a case of making up the acronym before you figure out the words that make it up?

Severe AND acute? Isn't that a little redundant? Which genius thought that one up?

IIRC, Acute and Severe have slightly different meanings in the medical field.

Post by **weemadando** » 2003-04-23 11:30pm

phongn wrote:
Vympel wrote:Is it just me, or is SARS a case of making up the acronym before you figure out the words that make it up?

Severe AND acute? Isn't that a little redundant? Which genius thought that one up?
IIRC, Acute and Severe have slightly different meanings in the medical field.

Acute - rapid onset and few "pre-cursor" symptoms. Can also mean selective in its effect.

Severe - potentially life-threatening. Severe can also be a designation assigned by the WHO to "priority" diseases.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-04-23 11:43pm

weemadando wrote:Acute - rapid onset and few "pre-cursor" symptoms. Can also mean selective in its effect.

Severe - potentially life-threatening. Severe can also be a designation assigned by the WHO to "priority" diseases.

Thank you. I couldn't find a medical definition (the OED only had common-use ones, abliet a good number of them)

Post by **Edi** » 2003-04-24 03:29am

Our national health care system is considering putting SARS on the list of severe public safety hazard diseases, meaning that the authorities will have the power to quarantine people suspected of having it against their will. That hasn't happened with any new disease anytime recently. There have been around dozen suspected and some confirmed SARS cases here, but nobody has died of it. One Finn died in China, he got the bug on a plane from Bangkok to Beijing and died in just a few days.

Edi

The_Nice_Guy · Post by **The_Nice_Guy** » 2003-04-24 03:37am

Well, I'm also from Singapore, and my sister works at the local hospital designated for treating SARS patients. And I have to say that after some discussion, I really have to agree with Admiral Valdmar that it's better to overstate the issue now than to regret it later.

That said, the local government is doing a lot of stuff(some of it utterly useless) to control the problem. That has two effects on the citizenry. One, it assures them that the authorities are doing something. The other effect is that it further scares the rest of the populace into staying at home, which greatly reduces the risk of disease spread.

The Nice Guy

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2003-04-24 06:20am

Edi wrote:Our national health care system is considering putting SARS on the list of severe public safety hazard diseases.

Sweden did that last week.

SARS now have the same standard as HIV / AIDS here.

Suspect you have it? It's a crime NOT to get tested!

And if you test posetive and don't follow doctor's orders you can and will get incarsinated(sp?).

Baron Mordo · Post by **Baron Mordo** » 2003-04-24 02:43pm

Rye wrote: maybe another disease already has srs...

Gender dysphoria. SRS is the treatment.

Ted C · Post by **Ted C** » 2003-04-24 02:59pm

Vympel wrote:Severe AND acute? Isn't that a little redundant?

I don't think so. I think "acute" means, in medical terms, a disease that quickly runs its course and is then gone. The opposite would be a "chronic" disease, which may become dormant be generally stays with the victim indefinitely, with periodic recurrence of symptoms.

Pneumonia and influenza are acute; AIDS and lupus are chronic.

You can have a mild or severe case of an acute illness. Likewise, you could have a mild or severe chronic illness.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-04-24 03:24pm

Vympel wrote:
US Military eat your heart out, someone in the medical establishment has you beat.

*Points Objective Force Personal Defeat Munition Dispenser System, also known a rifle, at Vympels head*

No, I think not

SARS has the potential to be quite devastating. However with its current spread it may not actually amount to all that much, beyond China anyway. There looking at the whole population being exposed with the 40+ million dead that would bring.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-04-24 06:18pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:
Vympel wrote:
US Military eat your heart out, someone in the medical establishment has you beat.
*Points Objective Force Personal Defeat Munition Dispenser System, also known a rifle, at Vympels head*

No, I think not

SARS has the potential to be quite devastating. However with its current spread it may not actually amount to all that much, beyond China anyway. There looking at the whole population being exposed with the 40+ million dead that would bring.

The mortality rate is now above 5% and there is talk of 1 billion cases within 60 weeks, it is still too early to tell.

On an unrelated note, is that the OICW as your avatar or something similar? Man that thing is fugly with a capital "F".

Raoul Duke, Jr. · Post by **Raoul Duke, Jr.** » 2003-04-24 06:59pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote: On an unrelated note, is that the OICW as your avatar or something similar? Man that thing is fugly with a capital "F".

Yes, that is the very piece of hardware of which you speak. Of.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-04-24 07:11pm

Well no amount of funky rifles will stop SARS unless they fire virus sized bullets or you're trying to contain people.