- (AFP) -- The top health official in southern China's
Guangdong province said the mysterious SARS virus could be stopped and
could be treated, citing data from his province, the worst affected area
in the world.
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- Average daily new cases reported in Guangdong have dropped
from 17.43 in the first week of March to 7.57 cases in the first week of
April, said Huang Qingdao, director of Guangdong's health department.
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- "New cases are steadily decreasing ... Our measures
are effective in preventing its spread and a majority of the patients can
be treated," Huang said at a press conference for foreign journalists,
the first since the disease surfaced in Guangdong in November.
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- "So even though the disease source hasn't been found,
the disease can be prevented and treated."
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- Huang's assurances were made as he revealed that three
foreigners in Guangdong were infected -- an overseas Chinese couple from
Canada who were treated in the capital Guangzhou and released in late March,
and an American teacher in Shenzhen who is being treated.
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- Huang said the number of cases of Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS) in the province has dropped significantly after a peak
in February when there were 688 patients.
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- In March, the province had 364 cases and in April it
saw only 53 cases. Cases had decreased from a peak of 51 a day to just
one on Monday, Huang said, adding that the number of deaths also fell sharply.
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- In February, 28 people in the province died, in March
nine died, and so far this month just three people have perished.
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- Most -- 82.3 percent -- of the total number of patients
hospitalized as of Monday have been treated and released -- further evidence
the disease can be reigned in, Huang said.
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- Measures Huang said were effective in helping Guangdong
curb the spread of the disease were simple.
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- They included ensuring proper air circulation in hospitals,
requiring nurses and doctors to wear 12-14 layer gauze protective masks
and disinfecting patient rooms three to four times a day.
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- Hospitals that were well ventilated had fewer infections
than others, he said.
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- Treatments that have proven to be effective include early
use of hormones, which caused patients' fevers to quickly drop, and respirators,
which helped patients rapidly recover, Huang said.
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- Most of the victims in Guangdong were not average people,
but family members or hospital workers who had close contact with people
infected.
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- The press conference was held on the last day of a World
Health Organisation team of experts' six-day visit to Guangzhou to probe
the source of the virus and how it is transmitted.
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- It comes as the province, and China, faces international
criticism for its foot-dragging in dealing with the outbreak.
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- The country is also looking at massive potential economic
losses with the tourism industry badly affected and many international
conferences and high profile visits, such as first-ever gigs in China by
the Rolling Stones, being cancelled.
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- The WHO last week issued an unprecedented advisory warning
people against travel to Guangdong and Hong Kong.
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- Huang stressed there was no evidence the disease originated
in Guangdong even though the first case was found there.
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- "AIDS was first found in the United States, but
it originated in Africa. So just because the disease has been discovered
here doesn't mean it is spreading from Guangdong to elsewhere," Huang
said.
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- "Personally, I feel it's very unfair that the WHO
put a travel advisory on Guangdong without first coming here."
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- China is the worst affected nation in the global health
crisis which has affected some 32 countries. Total cases in the country
reached 1,268 with 53 deaths. Most cases, 1,206, and deaths, 43, came from
Guangdong.
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