Dealing With SARS
EVER since SARS or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome surfaced
in some Asian nations, alarm bells have been ringing around the world. The disease has
already claimed scores of lives, most of them in China. The disease has spread far and
wide and has worried governments and health officials in many countries. There have been
fears that the disease could also travel to Nepal as it is well connected by air to Hong
Kong, the main south east Asian city from where SARS spread its wings to travel around the
world after it is suspected to have originated in another Chinese city. Health officials
in Nepal have been sounding warning that unless measures are taken quickly, Nepalese could
also begin to suffer from the disease. Though a little belated, it is welcome that the
Department of Health Services issued on Wednesday information in public interest regarding
the facts on SARS and how people should respond to its threat. Who is a suspect SARS case?
According to the Department, a person with a history of high fever and coughing or
breathing difficulty and has been in close contact with someone who is a suspected
probable case of SARS or has traveled to an affected area or resided in an affected area
during the 10 days prior to the onset of symptoms is considered a suspect case.
Despite the general travel advisory regarding travel to
SARS-affected countries, it is not inconceivable that the disease could still enter Nepal.
Thus, it was a good move on the part of the authorities to have arriving passengers who
had visited SARS-affected countries fill up the SARS surveillance form at the Tribhuvan
International Airport and receive health advice. This measure, however, has to be
stringently implemented. The surveillance form should not be just another paper to be
perfunctorily filled up before hurrying through the airport. At the same time, health
professionals working in hospitals throughout Nepal must be asked to be alert to detect
any suspected case. For, taking a suspect case immediately under surveillance and
treatment at health facilities would ensure that the disease would not spread around.
Given the fact that there is no antidote to the disease yet and that the treatment of SARS
has required utmost care, prevention is infinitely better than efforts at cure. And the
first step in prevention of the disease is full alertness by those manning the airport
desks or hospitals and health facilities. A prerequisite to stopping the disease from
spreading in Nepal is continual messages to the public regarding the likely ways to
contract it. Let's hope everybody concerned gives this threat the attention it deserves.
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