GUANGZHOU, China - At the suspected epicenter of the biggest
worldwide health panic in years, the same experts who have advised
against travel to China wore no protective masks during the
weekend as they visited hospitals in this city where patients
are suffering from severe acute respiratory syndrome.
t fact may underscore how much remains unknown about SARS
- which has struck 2,416 people and killed 89 worldwide - and
how people can best protect themselves from catching the pneumonia-causing
virus.
The uncertainty continued to rise on Sunday as Chinese officials
announced that a 53-year-old Finnish man had died from SARS
in Beijing, the first foreigner to succumb on the mainland.
World Health Organization experts touring Guangdong Province
in southern China, where the outbreak was first reported, said
their visit hasn't yet clarified how the virus passes from person
to person or its origin.
Most puzzling, they said after visiting the world's first
reported victim, was that the man had passed SARS to four other
adults but not to his four small children. Health investigators
also are trying to learn what's different about the "super-spreaders,"
who can infect many people, vs. other patients who appear to
be less infectious.
While the mystery surrounding the virus deepens and the SARS
toll continues to escalate, WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention have urged against "non-essential" travel
to mainland China and Hong Kong. The State Department has told
embassy workers they can leave China if they wish, and several
airlines are handing out complimentary "panda masks" on routes
to China.
Still, WHO team members did not wear protective masks when
they spoke to SARS patients until Sunday, when they donned them.
WHO Beijing chief Alan Schnur conceded here that given "the
odds of acquiring SARS just walking around some large city is
very, very small." Protective measures are "a matter of one's
personal comfort level. More people die in car accidents every
day than get SARS."
Health experts believe the virus spreads when an infected
person coughs or sneezes, but new evidence suggests that the
virus can live for hours on surfaces. If so, handwashing, and
not a mask, could offer the best protection.
Meanwhile, public-service announcements on TV in Hong Kong,
where 22 have died, admonish people to wear masks. "Avoid shaking
hands," a perky announcer says over carnival music. "Say 'Hi'
and 'Goodbye' instead."
In Guangdong's capital, Guangzhou, which has a population
of 6.5 million, few residents wore masks and almost nobody bothered
with gloves. Several women who congregated at one busy Guangzhou
intersection said they wore their masks to protect against poor
air quality and not to buffer against the SARS virus.
Foreigners are more cautious, although they concede it's difficult
to be totally vigilant.
"Nobody else is doing it, so it seems silly and almost rude,"
said George Hohmann, 34, of Providence, who is here on business.
"I wear my mask most places, but it's uncomfortable because
it's humid here, and in a restaurant when you're trying to eat,
it's just impractical."
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