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'Asian flu' scare taking hold
14/03/2003 15:18 - (SA)
Singapore - National here have been warned against visiting Hong Kong, Hanoi and China's Guangdong province "unless absolutely necessary" after fresh cases of a vicious form of pneumonia surfaced here.
Fears of a regional outbreak of the disease rose after an American businessman, who had fallen ill in Hanoi, died in Hong Kong, where 43 suspected cases of deadly "atypical pneumonia" have been reported so far.
At least 86 feared cases of atypical pneumonia, mostly in medical staff, are now been monitored by health officials in Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore.
Thirty-four cases have been reported in Hanoi and nine cases have surfaced in Singapore.
Experts are trying to determine if the outbreak is linked to last month's flare-up in southern China's Guangdong province where five people died and 305 cases were reported.
Singapore's ministry of health said on Friday it had been notified of six more people admitted to hospital for pneumonia, in addition to three who had earlier been confined after visiting Hong Kong.
All contacts being closely monitored
It said the six new cases involved people who had been in "close contact" with the first three patients, including two hospital staff who treated them.
Their conditions are stable, but everyone who had been in close contact with all the patients was being monitored closely, said a statement.
"As a precautionary measure, the ministry advises you (Singaporeans) to avoid travel to Hong Kong, Hanoi and Guangdong province in China for the time being, unless absolutely necessary," it added.
The ministry said it was in touch with the World Health Organisation - which issued a global warning on Wednesday on the outbreaks - and Hong Kong health authorities to "closely monitor the situation in Hong Kong and Hanoi".
"Investigations into the cause of the outbreaks are still going on and no causative organisms have been identified," it said, but noted that investigations "suggest a viral origin".
Calls to remain calm
Medical masks to guard against airborne contamination are reportedly in demand in Hong Kong amid fears the disease might have seeped out of hospitals on to the streets.
Health authorities in Hong Kong urged the public to remain calm after the death of the American businessman on Thursday.
The 48-year-old patient, whose name has not been made public, died at Princess Margaret Hospital after being flown back from Hanoi last week with a flu-like illness.
A hospital authority spokeswoman said a task force had been formed to stop the spread of the disease.
Asked if the pneumonia had spread into the community after reports that a private doctor and three nurses had been infected after treating a patient a week ago, a spokesperson said "we are looking into it".
Some newspapers said a domestic helper from Indonesia died of pneumonia last week, while another man died of respiratory illness.
Hospital 'in quarantine'
In Hanoi, four staff members at a private hospital, including one French doctor, were in serious condition Friday.
They were among 30 employees of the Hanoi French Hospital, all but two of them Vietnamese, struck down by the disease.
"Three Vietnamese and one Frenchman are seriously ill and the condition of the others is changing hour by hour," said Lucien Blanchard, the hospital's general manager.
"We are trying to control the situation but we do not know how it will evolve. We haven't found the cause of the outbreak yet."
Four staff at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi were also undergoing treatment for the illness, although they are not in a serious condition.
A WHO investigation team, including experts from the United States Centres for Disease Control, was due to arrive in Hanoi on Friday.
The Hanoi French Hospital shut its doors to the general public on Tuesday to look after the victims.
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