SARS......Should WE be concerned??

Lucky Bamboo · 04-25-2003, 06:35 AM

I hear more and more about SARS on the news every day. This morning, I heard thousands of people in China have been ordered to stay home (in quarantine)in an attempt to stop the spread of this epidemic. I've heard of cases in Canada, and the USA, and some people I've talked to are actually quite scared of the threat. To me, it's something happening way far away, and of no concern to me. I know of no one who has, or will travel to those countries in jeopardy (now it has officially spread to the Phillipines). I don't frequent large gatherings of people (except at the grocery store). Is it wise for me to pull my head out of the sand and take note of all of this?
How do you feel about this situation??

lost_sailor · 04-25-2003, 07:07 AM

It seems to have the potential to go worldwide in hurry. We're about due for a plague of some kind. You can only beat on Mother Earth for so long before she strikes back.

I'd say keep your head out of the sand, but don't freak out either. It's likely not such a big deal, but the news media needs something to carry on about.

It will distract us from the mess in Iraq. Anarchy, that's OK. WOMD? They were here a minute ago. You get democracy ... but ooooo we don't care for the majority. HEY look at Beijing!

(heh heh I wrote "bug deal" instead of "big" it IS a bug deal isn't it?)

[ 04-25-2003, 08:08 AM: Message edited by: lost_sailor ]

Silver Hilton · 04-25-2003, 07:31 AM

I played golf with a retired doctor the other day, and we talked about this in detail. His take was that, in the US, we should be concerned but not frightened. With proper medical care, most people live. Yeah, that's not real reassuring, but it's a lot better than, say, Ebola.

His take is that the world's medical community got on this much faster than it did on AIDS, and that is a good thing. Containment measures and research are proceeding much faster.

So, I'm not too worried.

rustyl · 04-25-2003, 07:35 AM

The world is smaller then you think. I know
of several people who sit around me that travel
to various parts of the orient (many known SARS hot spots), and I know several other companies in the area that have off-loaded a lot of resources to China which translates to several Oregon people doing a lot a travel to China.

Even if you are not the one doing the travel, or
do not work closely with people who do, you are probobly bumbing into those people at starbucks or where ever.

Hoosier Daddy · 04-25-2003, 07:51 AM

Reminds me of a story. My sister-in-law works for a company that sends lots of employees to Asia and back. The latest guy went to China or Taiwan, or somewhere where SARS has been heavy. Anyway, when he got back, a bunch of the other employees had plastic-ed off his cubicle like a little bubble, and put some signs in it. The gist was "Welcome home, please stay in your cubicle, we will bring you food on request but please don't come out".

Pretty funny stuff, unless you are the guy. I guess he tried to laugh about it, but he was already worried.

And yet another reason to avoid Star-shmucks. :grin:

[ 04-25-2003, 08:52 AM: Message edited by: Hoosier Daddy ]

Lucky Bamboo · 04-25-2003, 09:08 AM

I'm not one to panic or freak out, but I certainly will be on the informed side of this. My Grandson is talking about where he's going to take his family should the theat become real here. I think that's a bit extreme at this point, but there is a lot to think about if the situation gets to epidemic porportions here. Thanks for all the good comments!

WildHawg · 04-25-2003, 09:40 AM

We should be no more worried than the millions of people who died in the great influenza epidemic of, I believe 1917-18. It traversed the oceans by boat, but now we have much more efficient means of viral transport.
On the flip side, American medicine is far more advanced than in 1917. I suspect the majority of the people today would survive a similar epidemic today.
Keep your head up, be vigilant, and excercize reasonable precautions and you will have done all you can. The rest is up to the man upstairs.

1pump · 04-25-2003, 10:08 AM

According to the WHO, something like 20,000 people die annually from influenza. So if you put SARS in this perspective, it doesn't seem that bad. The CDC and the WHO are getting on this bug, and I'm betting they'll get it contained and under control. I hope. [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]
With the level of health care we have in the US, I'm not going to sweat it. These nasty diseases always seem to get a toehold in 3rd world countries with substandard medical care, like AIDS did in Africa. And the Chinese government withholding information about it didn't help, either.

FallRiverGuy · 04-25-2003, 12:07 PM

I think the telling detail is that there have been zero deaths in the US due to SARS. People are getting infected but as it has been stated above, the level of medical attention we get makes this seem less like to become an epidemic in the US. There are also a gazillion more people in China.