>>So, you're saying that in the initial phases of the outbreak, that the care givers were perhaps a little lax, or at least a little less stringent with their own safety precautions than they are now?<<
Exactly. At the beginning, the medical care giver had no idea that this SARS is so Contagious. And this was before the end of Feb. After that, they become very cautious, and got very strict disinfect procedure. HK medical staff has been cautious from beginning, but according to some doctors in Guangdong (they have some exchange with HK doctors), central air system in HK hospitals are really a big minus in this case.
>>I wasn't aware of the differences between the hospitals in China and Hong Kong.<<
Although personally, I have not visited HK hospitals, but I would assume not much dif. from the hospitals in the US, by and large completely depending on Central air. Hospitals on Mainland China, in 90% case, are older building, no central air, have windows in every room, so in SARS case, older building has more advantage. As I said, China is a developing country, a lot of its public facilities are old buildings, but quality of service is pretty decent. I would say comparable to the quality of service in developed countries.
>>Your observation on the availability of central air conditioning in Hong Kong hospitals might lend some credence to those medical researchers that believe that SARS is an airborne transmitted disease.<<
This is not my observation, hehe. I read that from People's Daily (Chinese official paper) Web site. This is what the doctors from GuangDong said after they visited HK hospitals. I think most doctors already know SARS is airborne. I talked with a friend of mine who is working in John Hopkins, he told me it is airborne from early March. I do not understand why WHO still does not say that.
I read somewhere today some doctors claimed that Ultraviolet can kill SARS virus.
According to a report on MSN, the medical professionals are now still puzzled about "super-spreader" and the question whether healthy people can carry virus without showing symptom.
I am not a medical major, so maybe I am too simple-minded. But my 2-cents is that a super-spreader is a person with an extreme strong immune system, so he can carry the virus for a long time without being sick (means showing symptom), but a lot of people around him get infected because of weak immune system.
And this also means that healthy people can carry virus around.
Just my 2-cents. |
