New outbreak of SARS; government silent on deaths
Beijing (AsiaNews) - Medical sources in the capital have revealed to AsiaNews that the town is at risk of a new epidemic of Sars, many months after having declared victory over the deadly virus.
Mainland health officials reported the presence of 2 cases of Sars and a hundred possible infections, but AsiaNews sources affirm that there already have been some deaths. The same sources complain of the continued silence of the authorities, which have waited for weeks to report the illness.
According to the official data, 20 year old nurse Li of Beijing, was treated for symptoms of Sars. Five individuals who came into contact with her show also similar symptoms; 170 people have been placed under observation.
The second case is that of a 26 year old from Anhui, treated for pneumonia at the same hospital where Nurse Li works. Upon returning home, he showed symptoms of a high fever, similar to that of Sars.
Nurse Li showed signs of a high fever since the 5th of April and was taken to the Jiangong Hospital, the same hospital where she is employed on April 7th. She was then transferred to the Peking University People's Hospital on April 14th, and later moved again to Ditan Hospital for infectious diseases.
On April 19th, 2 relatives that had attended the girl also got sick, showing signs of Sars, and have been treated as possible cases of the disease..
Guo Limin, head of the intensive care unit at Ditan, affirms that "none of the patients is in critical condition" and that there was no sign of the disease spreading through the hospital.
The medical sources of AsiaNews affirm instead that the illness already did take a victim: the mother of a researcher at the Ditan Hospital is in fact dead because of the virus. The researcher is working on a vaccine against Sars and with every probability he transmitted the virus to his mother. It happened weeks ago, but the authorities still do not speak of it.
The reappearance of the virus happens a week before the May Day holidays, in which tens of millions of Chinese are expected to travel. Last year, the authorities shortened the holidays and warned the people not to travel in order to curtail the spread of the illness in the territory.
A large epidemic of Sars exploded in November 2002 in Guangdong. Aided by the silence and cover-up of the government, it spread to 30 countries of the world, infecting more than 8 thousand people and causing 774 deaths.
According to AsiaNews sources, the new epidemic could be even more violent than that of last year. The virus that is now spreading was born in a laboratory and seems to be more resistant to medicinal treatments.
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