Hunger is a powerful thing, of course everyone took their masks off to eat! There could of course be viruses on the food but since its covered and your mouth and the food only exposed briefly it should limit the risk a lot. Just eat like a madman and stick the mask back on! I heard one arrogant american say the mask thing was ridiculous out loud on the plane but I think he will probably be wearing one today if he is in HK.
I have to agree with Boss Hog here… it is advisable for people to listen to what people who are qualified to speak on the subject say…
playing it down in situations is beneficial to reduce hsyteria and panic
And while the actual mortality date rate is low, what is importnat here is containment and irradication of this disease.
These scares will happen again in the future. Unfortunatley people’s dependance on medicine and in some cases people not completing the course of medicine t causes these viruses to adapt
Antibiotics are only effective against bacteria. Very very few drugs have any effect on viruses, let alone this type of virus. This virus is not in anyway a result of people not finishing their medication. I have a master’s degree related to this area so I believe I am qualified to speak a little about this.
That this scare will happen in the future does not mean you should do nothing now. As for the virus being contained in China that is total communist rubbish. The virus kills one in 20, usually healthy individuals so it is in fact VERY serious.
I think it is stupid to ignore the fact that a serious epidemic involving hundreds of infected individuals with a potentially fatal disease is occuring across the water of the busiest flight route in the world. Hopefully the virus does not transmit until symptoms are apparent, then there will be a good chance of curtailment…
Things that cause panic are government inaction and confusion as the Taiwanese govt. is amptly demonstrating.
Yeah!
Agreed I was gernralizing about all kinds of stuff that is adapting to medicine.
Didn’t say that … just said this is inevitable in the future
Maybe the concept of containment should be applied to hospitals, homes and individuals… so just contain the virus within these regions that are affected…
since its gone global… it can’t be contained within a country
[quote=“headhonchoII”]
I think it is stupid to ignore the fact that a serious epidemic involving hundreds of infected individuals with a potentially fatal disease is occuring across the water of the busiest flight route in the world. Hopefully the virus does not transmit until symptoms are apparent, then there will be a good chance of curtailment…
Things that cause panic are government inaction and confusion as the Taiwanese govt. is amptly demonstrating.[/quote]
Think its times to quaratine HK, China et al and stop the outward flow of people?
Have the WHO the authority to do this? or CDC?
Simply put has it got to the point or where is the red zone when people will have to be stopped from coming or going to any inclusive of HK, China, Ireland etc?
See this is the problem… if it continues to spread… maybe something as severe as this may need to be done
Yes I would think they should stop all flights that pick up passengers in Hong Kong from coming into Taiwan now.
Just a few comments about SARS:
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Most recent man to die in Toronto was 75 years old. He died 13 days after he was first exposed in a Toronto hospital by the first patient diagnosed with SARS in Canada.
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Doctor who “first discovered” SARS died because he did not know what he was dealing with, a doctor is mortal and will get sick and can die.
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Yes you can catch influenza or pneumonia from someone infected before they show “signs” of infection, ie coughing. The active virus can be found present in your saliva and can be passed to you through direct contact (kissing or a handshake(if you don’t wash)).
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Of the four people who flew into Canada(starting in early March) and had flow-blown SARS, none of the passengers or cabin crew were/have been infected with SARS.
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We do not know exactly how those people in the HK hotel were exposed to SARS. Everything has been speculation so far. Were they exposed via the elevator? hallway? restaurant? nobody knows what exactly happend to those ill-fated people.
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Wearing a mask maybe good for somebody who has SARS from coughing/spreading it to somebody else, but is really useless against catching the communicable disease because you are not covering your EYES as well.
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The best way to “defeat” SARS is through PUBLIC AWARENESS. This does not include scaremongering and belittling people. People are free to deal with the threat of SARS in any way they feel the most confortable.
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I plan on going to Taiwan in late april, or May, and do not plan on taking any extra precautions. Cheers!
Perhaps you did not read the link I just posted whereby one individual infected about 100 other people in an apartment block…nobody knows whether the virus can be transmitted aerially or not for sure. These people were not even on the same floor and were distributed throughout the building.
canada.com/news/story.asp?id … 9DEF23382E
Since the cases in Guangdong appear to be controlled it seems that there are some people who are Super Spreaders who need to be tracked and isolated to stop the epidemic. There is no need to panic but there is a need to be aware of the risk. If you think about how many people would pass thru that apartment block and their dealings and travellings you will not think this is scaremongering.
NOTE this is not the metropole hotel which was the original infection point in HK, this is a seperate case altogether.
Since this virus is not influenza we cannot know whether the virus spreads after symptoms appear or before.
Since you draw air into your lungs you would create an active pathway for the virus to be attracted into rather than your eyes where the virus would have to land onto. Therefore it would be prudent to wear a mask to cut your chance of infection as much as possible (and of course wash your hands). At least one Cathay Pacific stewardness contracted SARS from an infected indiviudal on a flight when you was told NOT to wear a mask in case it would panic the customers. Now standard practice for most of the staff IS to wear a mask. When you come in April I would bet you will wear a mask when you see everybody else wearing one around you. As I write this some of the scientific staff of our biotech company are wearing masks and I would say they are very aware about the threat of infectious diseases. It does seem the treatment is getting better as doctors quickly recognise the symptoms yet it is still dangerous and pneumonia can knock the stuffing out of you for a long time. If I contract I dont believe I will die but I would be pretty scared, put into an isolation ward and hate to think I might pass it on.
This is not scaremongering. This is looking for the same response from the Taiwanese govt. that the Singapore govt. has already put forward by closing the schools.
Guess I wont be kissing any more stewardesses 
Gener:
Thank you for a voice of common sense in this jungle of scaremongers.
It seems for me that the best advice is to stay away from hospitals, but then I have always shunned hospitals, clinics and doctors with waiting rooms full of sick people. Those places are really breeding grounds for all kind of diseases.
Go on with your life as normal, with hand and face washing as a normal hygiene routine.
Saw a quote in this article that I haven’t seen elsewhere – comes from Julie Gerberding, director of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. According to her, SARS is statistically less fatal than common flu, which is a relief to me, as I’ve had a bad cold and a tickly cough for the last week.
Flu doesn’t put you on a respirator if you are a healthy individual but SARS can do that. Common flu doesn’t spread to 100 people in the same building. My business colleague will not return to his house and is living in a hotel in Taipei for the next week because he met people in HK and Singapore and is afraid to infect his family. He is a qualified Vet. Who is the most prudent?
Quote from above article
Earlier this month, when cases of the mystery illness started appearing in North America, health officials thought it could be spread only by close, face-to-face contact, such as that which occurs between a doctor and a patient or among family members.
But rapid spread throughout communities in Hong Kong and Vietnam suggests the infectious agent causing SARS might be airborne, meaning that the disease could spread even without face-to-face contact, said Julie Gerberding, the CDCP director.
“The potential for infecting large numbers of people is great,” Ms Gerberding said.
“We may be in the early stages of what could be a larger problem. On the other hand, this is new and we have a lot of questions about the overall spread.”
In addition, she said, the infectious agent might survive on inanimate objects, such as tabletops, infecting others that way. She added that the death rate for SARS is relatively low. About 3.5 per cent of people who get the disease die from it. The rest recover, usually within about seven days, she said :End Quote
If you had a family of four people and eveybody got infected that means that your family have a 1/6 chance of having a fatality so if I was a parent I would be concerned.
This virus may be more infectious than influenza or maybe not, nobody knows.
The fatality rate might be statistically similar to flu but I dont think its a very nice statistic.
I do not think saying that
- Avoid Travel to HK or better still don’t go
- Wear a mask to reduce the chances of getting it
- it is in everyone interests for people to take the correct precautions in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus.
is scare mongering
True it is never a good idea to panic people, but is it not worse to tell people that they are worrying too much about the virus, when you are not an expert on the subject
I would say that pretending that the virus is not easily spread and that it is unnecessary to take precautions (as they did in China where this virus seems to have come from) will further the spread of virus more.
None of the scaremongers in this forum said the virus is like Hanta or Ebola but 5 days in hospital and isolation, and the resources needed to scale this up to handle patients, if the numbers increase is a little worrying.
On top of this, it is a little worrying in developing places like China and Vietnam where people do not have access to the adequate medical services
Also there are certain unknowns about the disease which I think worries even the medical profession.
- How can you fight an enemy when you cannot identify it?
- Is it or is it not airborne?
- People willing to risk the spread of it (however slim) by going to HK when it is not necessary to go there, else when they can put off the visit.
Maybe it is better just to listen to what the CDC and WHO say. I think they should understand the situation more than anyone
Anyone know where to buy a medieval-era plague suit complete with beak and hat?
No, but I can sell you a pocketful of posies.
Damn where are the leeches when you need them
Does a mask really help at all? I mean if it’s an itty bitty little virus, it’s going to get in the same way as the air gets in isn’t it. I might be worng here (I’d like to see the arguments), but it seems to me that the only mask that’d do any good would be one with a filter of osme kind. Anyone know?
Brian
Supposedly the 3M XXX (V90 or something) mask works ok… the cloth masks are useless
A plastic bag would work also… but this creates problems in itself
unfortunaltely I tried two Watsons today and they said they were sold out but would be restocked by Friday
I assume an itty bitty little virus is still bigger than an oxygen/ nitrogen molecule and so would get trapped in the filter