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Monday, April 21, 2003The mayor of Beijing was fired following the disclosure of a tenfold increase in SARS cases in China's capital and charges he mishandled the outbreak of the deadly illness, state-run media said Monday. The dismissal of Mayor Meng Xuenong came shortly after he and China's health minister were removed from key Communist Party posts, and the Health Ministry announced that the number of cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Beijing had jumped from 37 to 339... ...Meanwhile, Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa said efforts to contain the spread of SARS by quarantining households of victims and tracking down potential contacts are paying off. An additional 150 suspected SARS cases have been identified through stepped-up measures to find people exposed to the disease. Those people have been able to get early treatment - which Hong Kong doctors fighting SARS say is crucial... But elsewhere, things aren't going as well: ...Singapore announced that all 2,400 employees of a vegetable market are under quarantine after a coworker fell ill... ...Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, which has Canada's largest trauma unit, closed its critical care, cardiovascular intensive care and SARS units Saturday. Officials believe staff members were exposed to the virus a week ago while treating a patient. The closing will place a "huge burden" on Toronto's health care system, said the hospital's president and chief executive, Leo Steven. The mortality rate still appears to be around 4%, which is relatively low, but death can occur in all age groups regardless of health status. Far worse is the effect it has on the economies, and on the healthcare systems, of areas with the epidemic. You would think that this would cure us of our complacency when it comes to the dangers of bioterroism, and convince our public health community and healthcare workers of the wisdom of pre-attack vaccination against smallpox. But, so far there are no signs of that. posted by Sydney on 4/21/2003 08:31:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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