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| SARS under control, life backs on track |
| CCTV.COM 2003-04-08 11:04:38 |
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Since the first case of SARS was reported last November, south China's Guangdong Province has been on the frontline of the fight against the disease.
This was taken in Guangzhou City on February 11, at the height of the SARS outbreak. The citizens were obviously panicked.
But three months later it is a very different story in the city. As the disease gets effectively under control, people's lives have returned to normal.
A Guangdong citizen said: "At the beginning we were a bit frightened. But now things are back on track, we are no longer scared."
The No. 3 Hospital affiliated to Zhongshan Medical University received 25 patients suffering from SARS in February. Of these, 21 were the hospital's own medical staff. At that time, any visitor to the isolation ward had to go through strict sterilization procedures. But they have been removed now that the danger has passed.
Yao Jiwu, professor from No. 3 Hospital affiliated to Zhongshan Medical University, said: "After two months of arduous effort, the crisis has, by and large, been solved. All but one of the patients, including our own medical staff, have recovered. That one patient has developed strong respiratory failure. He has been transferred to the Guangzhou Respiratory Institute."
Cao Hong, a doctor at the hospital, was among those affected by SARS. This was how he described his situation in an interview two months ago.
Cao Hong, chief doctor from No. 3 Hospital － Zhongshan Medical University, said: "Everyday I receive 40 to 50 phone calls. I had to turn off my cell phone. Most calls were people trying to find out if I was still alive." But now he is fully recovered and has returned to work.
Cao Hong said: "I got infected after trying to rescue a SARS patient on February 1. Three days later I developed syndromes such as exhaustion and a high fever. I was taken to hospital the next day. For three days the fever remained and antipyretics didn't work. Then I started coughing. "
Cao's was not only concerned about his own condition, he was also worried he had passed the disease on to his pregnant wife. He also added: "Since I was diagnosed with SARS, I was very much worried that my disease would pass on to my wife. But after one week's observation, she was doing pretty well. As far as I know, none of the family members of the affected medical staff fell ill."
Another patient being interviewed was Cao's colleague, Zhao Zhixin. She has now almost recovered after treatment.
Zhao Zhixin, associate professor from No. 3 Hospital － Zhongshan Medical University, said, "I am now about 90 percent recovered. My X－rays no longer show any sign of the disease." Zhao too, had been living with her family before catching the disease and luckily none of them had become affected.
Since the outbreak of SARS last November, the Guangdong Province has experienced the initial stage and the peak of the ailment. It is now waning and the newly found SARS cases in the province are sporadic.
Zhong Nanshan, director of Guangdong SARS Prevention and Treatment Working Team, said: "Unlike flu and other fatal epidemics whose patients multiply by hundreds or thousands once they start, SARS shows a trend of weakened infection. I have been treating SARS patients almost everyday since last December. For medical staff, preventative measures mainly include good ventilation at the ward, carefully cleaning hands and taking showers and changing clothes before and after work. These, I think, are crucial in reducing the likelihood of cross－infection and contagion."
At present experts from World Health Organization are in China working closely with their Chinese counterparts to find out the disease pathogen.
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Editor: Zhao Xuan CCTV.com
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