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Beijing sees sars peaking Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Beijing Sees SARS Peaking, Rural China a Worry
BEIJING (Reuters) - China said Friday the worst appeared to be over for SARS-stricken Beijing as international experts said China faced a crucial battle in the next few months to contain the virus and stop it spreading globally.
There was worrying news from Hong Kong where a group of scientists said the virus had been mutating rapidly, making a cure or vaccine more difficult.
In Beijing, the deputy director general of the Municipal Health Bureau, Liang Wannian, told a news conference the pneumonia-like disease was peaking in the capital, the hardest-hit city in the world with 91 deaths and more than 1,600 cases.
Officials stressed it was too early to say when SARS would be brought under control in Beijing -- let alone in the vast country's rural areas, whose rickety health care system would be no match for a full-blown outbreak of the mysterious disease.
"Since April 21, the number of SARS patients in Beijing has entered the peak period," Liang said, adding the conclusion was based on figures released by the Health Ministry on Thursday.
"My personal judgment is the present high plateau of the number of cases in Beijing will continue for a period of time. Overall the situation in Beijing is stable, and the upward trend has been effectively checked," he said.
Cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in the capital will likely drop in the next 10 days, if the virus does not mutate, he said.
SARS has killed close to 200 people in China and infected nearly 4,000 since it emerged in the southern province of Guangdong late last year. Globally, it has infected more than 6,300 people in 30 countries, killing more than 400.
CRUCIAL MONTHS
The World Health Organization said China was facing a critical period.
"The next few months will prove crucial in the attempt to contain SARS worldwide, which now greatly depends on whether the disease can be controlled in China," the WHO said in a statement on its Web site (www.who.int).
Doctors say immediately isolating SARS patients is key to preventing its spread and quick treatment may help patients survive. Symptoms include high fever, cough and pneumonia, and there is no standard treatment. It is mainly passed by droplets through sneezing and coughing.
But scientists are still puzzled by the virus as it has yielded virtually no clues about where it came from or why it infects and sometimes kills people.
Hong Kong scientists said the virus was mutating so fast it could render any cure ineffective.
"Such a quick mutation means that even if there is a cure it may become ineffective. Even a diagnostic test may not be able to detect it if it has undergone change," said Dennis Lo, one of a team of microbiologists who have made a study of the virus.
The findings came as Hong Kong reported eight more deaths, figures that show the mortality rate has risen to 10.6 percent from 5 percent two weeks ago, and 2.5 percent in late March.
SARS has killed 170 people in Hong Kong and the cumulative cases have risen to 1,611, second only to mainland China.
PEOPLE'S WAR ON SARS
China's President Hu Jintao called for a "People's War" on the disease during a trip to the industrial city of Tianjing, which experts say is poised to experience an outbreak because of its proximity to Beijing.
China has taken up the fight to contain the disease after scathing criticism from health experts around the world over its belated and secretive response to the outbreak.
Movie theaters and other recreational spots have been closed in Beijing, where about 12,000 people are under quarantine orders.
The disease is also taking a toll on Asian economies and Taiwan's parliament Friday approved a $1.4 billion special fund to battle the virus, which has killed at least three people on the island and may have infected close to 200.
Its economic impact will also be the main talking point when Asia-Pacific trade ministers meet in Thailand next month and draw up plans to try and revive business confidence.
A British research firm, NTC Research said Hong Kong's economy shrank at its sharpest rate in nearly five years in April as SARS scared off consumers and tourists.
Hong Kong said it will not be able to meet its 3 percent economic growth target and unemployment is nearing record highs. Hong Kong has been hardest hit after China.
Singapore reported two new cases and another death, bringing total fatalities to 25, the world's third-highest.
These latest infections were the first new cases in three days and dealt a blow to hopes the city state's tough quarantine and screening measures had mostly contained the illness.
In Canada, the scramble was on to attract visitors put off by the SARS outbreak there and by the WHO's brief advisory to travelers to avoid Toronto.
But the Toronto area reported two more SARS cases, both in nurses. Canada has had 349 probable or suspected cases and 23 deaths.
(With additional reporting by Jonathan Ansfield and Kevin Yao in Beijing, Tan Ee Lyn in Hong Kong, Maggie Fox in Washington and Rajiv Sekhri in Toronto)
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05/02/2003 11:26
RTR
© Copyright All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of
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