Government (Korea) Warns of SARS Outbreak
times.hankooki.com
By Soh Ji-young
Staff Reporter
People may have to brace themselves for another round of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) as health officials are warning of an outbreak this fall.
``As respiratory diseases normally spread in the winter season, it is certain the SARS virus will spread once more, possibly as early as October,¡¯¡¯ said Kwon Jun-wook, director of the communicable diseases control division at the National Institute of Health.
``If a number of contagious diseases break out simultaneously, the detection of SARS will be an especially difficult task, so people with weak immune systems should take care to get vaccinated against influenza and other diseases so they will not be mistaken for SARS cases,¡¯¡¯ he said.
The official advised people over the age of 65 and those suffering from respiratory diseases, diabetes and high blood pressure to get their flu shots before November. People in their 50s and pregnant women are also recommended to get vaccinated just in case.
The NIH has decided to offer vaccine shots next month to all quarantine officials and staff at hospitals who have a higher risk of getting infected with the SARS virus.
Kwon said that in a worst-case scenario, about 700-3,800 people in South Korea would get the SARS virus in the second half of this year.
The figures were calculated on the assumption that health authorities detect a SARS patient within 10-20 days after arriving in the country.
``It was just sheer luck that we were little affected in the first half. We will take the utmost precaution possible,¡¯¡¯ Kwon said.
Already, outbreaks of respiratory diseases have been reported in other countries this month, unleashing scares that SARS is once again in our midst.
In Hong Kong, 24 patients were quarantined Wednesday after seven public hospital workers developed flu-like symptoms. None of the workers has tested positive for SARS but the patients are being monitored for the disease after some showed mild fevers and coughs.
An outbreak of respiratory illness was reported at an elderly care facility in Canada on Aug. 14 but after extensive investigations, the World Health Organization concluded Monday the disease is not SARS.
``Health experts are cautiously expecting the southern part of China to become a source of the SARS virus as the ban on eating wild animals, which the government enforced after the SARS outbreak, is showing signs of loosening,¡¯¡¯ Kwon said. |
