Is anyone worried about SARS?
 

Okay, so we've had many questions regarding safety of travel to Europe right now. I for one really appreciate the responses and the questions because it always helps to talk things through. I'm getting hit by my family right now about how I shouldn't go to Europe this summer, I'm endangering my family, etc. One thing that particularly has my mother worried is the threat of contracting SARS on planes. Is this concerning any of you? Has anyone cancelled because of this worry?

Most cases of SARS outside Asia are in Toronto Canada. Of course you can contact SARS on an aeroplane as well as anywhere where there are a lot of people. Restaurants, theaters, shops etc. etc. We are worried about it in Europe too, and have no solution yet. It is highly contageous.

I can't say it hasn't at least crossed my mind. But until I hear that there is any sort of specific threat that applies to the type of travel I am doing (from the US to Western Europe) then no, I'm not worried about my own safety. <BR><BR>I'm a bit fatalistic on the topic of personal safety. I don't go out of my way to take chances, but believe that when my time is up, it's up. If it's my turn, I'd rather check out on my way to or from (or while in) Europe than because I got hit by a bus here at home.<BR><BR>I save my worrying for the big stuff - budget cuts to domestic programs all across the board, unemployment, poverty, war, etc. Unfortunately, there is more than enough to occupy my mind on this level, and very little good news in sight. So from time to time, I take a break from worrying about that, too. All the more reason to travel....

Lesli!:)

Well, there are currently 64 cases of it here in the States, so staying home might not be your best choice, either. If it's any consolation, so far only about 4 percent (worldwide, or in the States? not sure) have died and most of the others have recovered. Per a news broadcast tonight.

I don't know if this will alleviate anyone's fears or not, but I feel most able to make informed decisions based on information from a reliable source. So here's the URL for the CDC's webpage re SARS: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/<BR><BR>The updated travel advisory, as of 3/29, still made no mention of any non-Asian countries.

Here in Europe SARS has reached the first page in our newspapers. A death toll of 4% is very high, normal flu has 0.2% and mostly old people over 60.<BR>London: There are a lot of people there who fly in from Hong Kong and Singapore. They say that air conditioning, underground travel, even lifts in hotels can be places where you can get into contact with sick people, not only on aeroplanes. We are not worried about the Irak war, this is more dangerous for us.

Until SARS kills 40,000 people a year like automobile accidents in the US, I think I'll spend my worry time on something worthwhile. And don't try to tell me how you're in &quot;control&quot; while driving your car. Half of the US automobile accidents involve alcohol and/or drugs. When that drunk runs a red light and broadsides your car, you don't have any &quot;control.&quot;<BR><BR>BTW: I think I'll rant for a bit since it's 4:00am. :-)<BR><BR>People turn off that TV and get on with your lives. The so-called news does nothing but live to incite you to outrage and worry. Remember legionnaires disease? Remember how terrible it was? Remember how it was associated with hotels, air conditioning, etc.? Remember people canceling conventions and travel to Philadelphia? On the grand scheme of things just how much has it really changed the world?<BR><BR>Another example I've been giving over the last few months is the summer of 2001. Remember the shark attacks? Remember how people were canceling trips to Florida? It was such a slow news summer that this was the only story line TV news could flog to terrify people into watching more TV news. Yet scientist after scientist did nothing but drone on... there have been no more shark attacks this summer than any other summer. What I won't ever forget is the almost-glee the news media had when Sept. 11th happened that fall. Finally they had something to really sell more TV news. It was disgusting.<BR><BR>Your parents managed their lives with 30 minutes of evening news with Walter Cronkite at 6:00pm on CBS through out most of their lives. Your grandparents managed to live their lives with even less news. Turn off that idiot box and live your lives.<BR><BR>There I feel better. :-)

It's great being an Aussie at the moment. European trip coming up in four weeks and our plans have been altered many times due to the war. Then came SARS. We were supposed to be having a stopover in Singapore, flying Singapore Airlines into London, mmmm that doesn't look too appealing now, the 26 hour direct flight looks better. But, come hell or high water, we'll be in Europe in just 32 sleeps!

As an Infection Control professional allow me to say that probably the best information about SARS would be found on the CDC website. Comments made here such as the one about SARS being &quot;highly contagious&quot; are misleading and do nothing but incite fear and apprehension. <BR>Again, I would NOT rely on any information except that which is promulgated by an agency or agencies with a known track record in dealing with such phenomena..and that does NOT include your neighbors' opinion, CNN, The Inquirer, etc.

<BR><BR>I agree that it's best to stay informed, BUT right now the CDC and others are baffled by SARS. So, don't expect to get much cold comfort from visiting the CDC website.<BR>As of right now, though, I'd still make a trip to Europe (or anywhere except Asia), if I only had one planned.

aj,<BR><BR>To answer you question, yes, I am worried but as of this date refuse to cancel our trip in May to Spain, Portugal and Paris! My husband who never worries about anything has told me three times he thinks we should cancel. I say no. I just can't bring myself to cancel unless things get a lot worse in the next several weeks. It sure does seem like a lot of the joy of the vacation is going down the drain though!

Here is the CDC website telling you where in the US the SARS is ----<BR><BR>it is probably coming in with people infected from Asia---as you can see that Calif. and NY have the highest cases so far.....<BR><BR>Maybe wear a mask on the plane just to be on the safe side????

THANK YOU yy,<BR>Great post!<BR>Couldn't have said it any better!

Try thhis CNN nnews website with several articles and links on SARS:<BR>http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/03/27....qa/index.html

Folks from what I hear it came from 1 particular hotel in HongKong that all these people were in. The crowd from Toronto were in this hotel and were related to eachother so it thats why more than 1 in Canada had it. 1 person in the west of Ireland who returned from Hong kong had it and is stable from what I last heard. I think YY is right and we all need to turn off the TV for a while and live our lives. The next year is going to be full of these scaremongering stories with the war on and world tensions. Go to Europe and have a nice trip.

An AMERICAN AIRLINES plane which came from HONG KONG this morning is under quarantine at the SAN JOSE, CA airport.<BR>Reports are 3 people on board had difficulty breathing and are being checked for SARS. Check your local and national news tonight for more info.

Over 100 people DIED today in AUTOMOBILE accidents. Be CAREFUL driving home today so you can see that evening news that is so terribly important.

I'm mainly worried about being attacked by a drunk shark.

jeez, capo! where do you hang out!!!!!!!<BR>I worry about Canadian Geese. We are unindated with them. Almost broke my neck while on my bike skidding thru their turds.

I wouldn't change travel plans now, but if a major epidemic starts, things will look very different to all of us. A 4% death rate is huge, and anyone who has kids in school knows how colds and other virus spread. Let's hope the government can keep a lid on it. It is no joke.<BR><BR>SARS was ruled out in the illnesses on the plane in San Jose CA.

As you can see just from the handful of posts above, unsubstantiated rumors are spreading much faster than the virus itself. I strongly urge people to rely only on the WHO or CDC websites (or other governmental health organization websites) for the most accurate, up-to-date information. <BR><BR>Andrea in Shanghai

Hi Andrea, I was wondering about you in Shanghai, glad you are right on top of things.

<BR><BR>and watch out for coughing monkeys!

There were WHO statistics in my newspaper to-day. Looks like you are in far more danger at home than in Europe. I�ll start from east:<BR><BR>Australia: 1 sick, 0 dead<BR>Hongkong: 685 sick, 16 dead<BR>Taiwan: 13 sick, 0 dead<BR>Vietnam: 58 sick, 4 dead<BR>Singapore: 92 sick, 3 dead<BR>China: 1190 sick, 46 dead<BR><BR>Then Europe:<BR><BR>Romania: 3 sick, 0 dead<BR>Italy: 3 sick, 0 dead<BR>Switzerland: 3 sick, 0 dead<BR>Germany: 5 sick, 0 dead<BR>France: 1 sick, 0 dead<BR>Belgium: 1 sick, 0 dead<BR>UK: 3 sick, 0 dead<BR>Ireland: 2 sick, 0 dead<BR><BR>Then across the Atlantic:<BR><BR>Canada: 53 sick, 6 dead<BR>USA: 69 sick, 0 dead<BR><BR>

I think you have the same kind of censorship in your media as about the Irak war. Have a look at Yahoo Canada.<BR>You who are concerned about losing your purse in Europe think that a mortality of about 4% is not high. What would happen if the virus reached Irak?<BR>(By the way the AA Airline which was in quaratine came from Tokyo and flew to Vancouver.)

Looks like I forgot the most tourism dependent country, Thailand.<BR><BR>Thailand: 6 sick, 2 dead<BR><BR>The newspaper also says that all infected people have got the desease in China or South East Asia. And you have to be in close contact to get infected. The spreading is slowed down because a sick person does not spread the desease before he himself has symptoms.

I seem to always get sick after long international flights. I've always thought about wearing a face mask, but figured the attention and odd reactions weren't worth it. Now I guess I'll blend right in!

Of the people who died in Toronto all except one were elderly and had pre-existing serious medical conditions like heart disease or diabetes. The one man in his 40s who died had diabetes and had had LONG exposure to the first person to die. It is contagious but only to those with close contact to the affected. So far of the people quarantined because they were in the vicinity of people who developed SARS, only those in VERY CLOSE contact have developed the disease. I regularly use public transit in Toronto and the only extra precaution I am taking is more frequent hand washing. I would agree with other posters who point out that you are more likely to be killed in a car accident than to get SARS much less to die of it. I agree that a mortality rate of 4% is not all that low BUT first you have to GET the disease. Not everyone in casual contact with SARS patients is getting the disease.

I'm worried about SARS but, frankly, there's not a thing I or you, teacherlady, or anyone else here can really do about it. It's kind of up to CDC and WHO and Lady Fortune, but the proportion of deaths to people who contract the disease -- even though it's high compared to many other diseases -- is still not nearly high enough to call it a fatal disease. <BR><BR>Its biggest threat has to do with the demands put on particular hospitals to give large numbers of people adequate intensive care, if there's a concentrated outbreak somewhere. In the meantime, I'm refusing to worry about it until I have reason to think I'm taking a larger risk than usual -- for example, if I'm on a flight from Vancouver that originated in Hong Kong, I'll have to weigh my fears of getting a long-shot disease versus my fears of looking like a doofus in a surgical mask!