I'm not really doing anything because I'm not certain what to do. West Nile Virus is easy to cope with, but this I can't figure out how to avoid. Perhaps an increase in personal hygene?

What Would Burt Gummer Do?

well not, i'm always being as hygenig as possible.

Well, SARS hasn't arrived in South Africa YET (although we have had a few close calls and suspected cases), so I havn't really thought about it. I do have a question though: I hear that the loose-fitting surgical masks that many people are wearing are no good to protect yourself from getting (or spreading) SARS. If this is true, what is a better precaution be to take?

The global population is about 6.5 billion. The approximate number of SARS cases is 5000, mostly in a few specific geograpical areas. That gives you a rough chance of 1 in 1.3 million of actually contracting SARS. The odds will obviously increase if you visit one of the high risk areas or decrease if you're in an area with no reported cases. If you're not headed to Asia, stop worrying.

My $.02

Ed

And, only 3% of those SARS patients actully die.

(NOTE: this figure is from a newspaper a few weeks ago)

i have heard that the WNO raised that estimit to 15%.... <img src="images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Hmm, 3% does seem quite low. Cholera and ebola kill far more people in the Southern Africa relitive to SARS.

Woft:
You are right about those masks. They will block something propelled at your mouth and nose but they offer almost no protection for inhaled contaminants. If you wear one of these in a very dusty environment you will notice streaks of dust deposited on either side of your nose and mouth as the air current is diverted around the mask. For the best protection you would need a proper form fitting mask with the appropriate filter type. This seems a little excessive though.
Personally, I think you would be better protected by wearing disposable gloves if you are in a high risk area.

Chris

As a medical doctor in the frontlines facing probable SARS patients on a daily basis in a country with the third highest number of SARS cases, there are a few things I have learnt:

1. This is a very new disease. There is so much more we do not know about it. Is is airborne or droplet borne ? The critical issue is that if it is airborne, more and more people will come down with it. If it is droplet borne, only if an infected person sneezes or coughs will the infection spread. Right now, is SEEMS to be only droplet bound....but is it MUTATING......X2 it is not.....

2. Governmental response is of EXTREME importance. EARLY DETECTION & ISOLATION of cases are the only way to prevent its spread. If the govenrment lacks the political will to undertake effective measures then the situation will end up like China and Taiwan. There is no vaccine / effective treatment.

3. The mortality rate is 10-15% in Singapore and Hong Kong. As the virus mutates, who knows how this will change.

4. Personal Hygiene goes a long way in helping to preventing the spread of this disease. The virus can stray alive on surfaces for up to three hours and in diarrhoreal feces for a few days. Wash your hands judiciously before eating touching your face or eyes. Handle door knobs and lift buttons with caution.

5. Avoid travel to all places listed in the CDC / WHO travel advisory. If you pick up the disease in your travels there is a 10-21 day incubation period in which there are no symptoms and when the virus hits, it hits hard and fast.

6. Be truthful to your healtcare provider. Fever and a positive travel history to an affected region are your only way to get the right and best treatment. Lying in the hope of avoiding hospitalization or quarantine will only delay treatment to your own detriment.

7.Finally, take respiratory precautions. Get some N95 / N99 / N100 / P95 / P99 / P100 masks to standby before there is a run on these items. For those in Europe, the standards are FFP2 or FFP3 respirators. Get some protective gloves and keep the bleach handy.

Hopefully, the virus will not spread to where you guys are living, but get the PPE before there is a run on these items, and once the virus hits, stocks will run out VERY QUICKLY like it did here in Singapore. Thankfully and thanks due to the preparedness mentality instilled by this website, I got my stock before the SHTF.

Good luck!

The 60 minutes "news' program in the USA featured the biological weapons programs in the former USSR tonight. Nature has Ebola Virus, AIDS, SARS and a host of other deadly diseases that wreak havoc on many nations. Ironically a report condemning the fast food diet that is making obesity a cultural plague in the USA was barely mentioned. I am preparing as my great grandmother taught me ; washing my hands before each meal, saying thanks to the local diety(ies) and eating my organic spinach with the field tested holes of approval from healthy bugs <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />