Posted 6:31 PM

The Excel Datasheet has been updated with 1st May WHO figures.

Posted 6:28 PM

click for lassen model

Posted 7:33 PM

Personal Opinion
The Canadian government threw a fit when the WHO announced a travel advisory for Toronto and have stated publically that they disagree with it completely. YET, their own travel advisory says to avoid even transiting Singapore and Hanoi - the latter hasn't had a case of SARS in over 20 days and even the WHO has given it a clean bill of health. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Some have suggested they resent been grouped in with a bunch of "third world countries." I'm Canadian and am very disappointed to watch their behaviour from the other side of the world. Debate - yes. But if Toronto is clean then surely Hanoi and Singapore are as well if not Hong Kong.

Posted 6:49 PM

Health Canada Rescinds Routine Access to Ribavirin
Health Canada will no longer provide routine access to ribavirin for the treatment of SARS. This decision stems from a recommendation by a working group advising Health Canada, comprised of health experts and clinicians from across Canada and representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States. After reviewing the existing anecdotal clinical experience with ribavirin, negative results from in vitro testing with ribavirin against SARS related coronavirus, and knowledge of reports of serious and unexpected adverse drug reactions, the working group reached a consensus that there is no data to support the continued use of ribavirin outside of clinical trials at this time. Physicians currently treating patients with ribavirin are also strongly advised to critically re-examine the risk/benefit for each patient before continuing treatment.

Posted 6:40 PM

ADVISORY - Health Canada Advisory
OTTAWA, April 29 - Health Canada is advising the public that there are no proven home remedies, treatments or preventives for SARS, and that consumers should be cautious of products being advertised for the prevention or treatment of the disease. There have been reports in the media and on the Internet of home remedies and over the counter products being effective in the prevention and/or treatment of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Recent examples of products with unsubstantiated SARS-related claims include Vitamin C, colloidal silver, belladonna, and other herbal or homeopathic products. It is important consumers are aware that these claims have not been proven to be effective in the prevention or treatment of SARS.

Posted 6:09 PM

'Welcome to Sars central'
Paul Caulford is a doctor at the Scarborough hospital, epicentre of Toronto's Sar's outbreak. This is his diary of the six-week battle against a relentless virus 'with a large appetite for people'

Bizarre SARS Fatalities

Philippines - a man named Jing Tattoo killed a fisherman for sneezing near him. The victim, reportedly suffering from flu, was walking to get noodles at 3am when he bumped into his killer. A witness said that Jing got irked when the sick mans neezed in front of him. He told not to sneeze with other people around since he might carrying SARS virus. A fistfight ensued which was ended by Jing's knife. A manhunt is now on for the murderer.

Taiwian - a man in quarantine in Tapei hung himself because he incorrectly thought his wife had the SARS virus. The nurse who went to advise him that he was mistaken arrived too late. By the time she returned to tell him the news, he had already hung himself. He was 48.

Free and Clear
Although Vietnam has been delisted as a SARS affected area by the WHO, one of the new SARS cases in Taiwan is a Vietnamese national who travelled from Hanoi to Taipei on a Vietnam Airlines flight on April 19.

Death Rate
One statistician estimates death from SARS is as high as 63% for those over 65 and 94% for those over 75%. Children under the age of 15 appear to only suffer mild symptoms with no fatalities.

Posted 5:53 PM

Trying to Understand Pasir Panjang
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

• April 11 Mrs Chia, 67, is feverish, has a cough and chest pains.
• April 13 She goes with granddaughter, 9, to Koh's T&T Clinic at Block 237, Serangoon Avenue 3.
• April 14 She is still sick and goes back to the clinic.
• April 15 Feeling weak, she needs her 72-year-old husband Chia Gek Soo's aid in going to the toilet. She dies of heart failure on the toilet seat. Their 9-year-old granddaughter complains of a fever. That night, her younger sisters also fall ill.
• April 15-19 Friends and relatives attend Mrs Chia's wake at the void deck of Block 225, Serangoon Avenue 4.
• April 16 The couple's second daughter, Lay Sea, 41, is sick. The children's parents, who live in Brunei, return for the funeral.
• April 18 Mr Chia Gek Soo, who works at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, is sick with a fever.
• April 19 His fifth child, Mr Chia Soo Pheng, who is in the Navy, falls ill. He, his father, sister Lay Sea, his sister-in-law, Mrs Chia Soo Kheng, three nieces and his girlfriend go to a nearby clinic at 10.30 am. They are given masks and told to wait for an ambulance. While waiting, they remove their masks and go to a nearby coffeeshop and a Chinese medical hall, causing 27 people working at these places to be placed on quarantine. The three girls and Ms Chia Lay Sea are now Sars patients while Mr Chia Soo Pheng, his sister-in-law and father are suspects. All could not attend Mrs Chia's funeral that afternoon.
• April 21 The three girls' father returns to Brunei where he lives.
• April 22 Mr Chia Gek Soo's three other daughters - a lecturer at Ngee Ann Polytechnic; a Hongkong Bank staff, and a third who is a housewife - are all on home quarantine.
• April 25 The bank officer's 18-month-old daughter is sick and warded at Tan Tock Seng Hospital as a Sars suspect.

"The group of eight was led by a 72-year-old grandfather. On April 15, four days before the visit to the doctor, the man who worked at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre had seen his wife die suddenly. Two days before her death, she had visited the same private clinic that a 45-year-old man had visited before he was diagnosed with Sars. The cause of her death was diagnosed as cardiac arrest."

" The 45 olds year guy who started the string of infection in PPWC visited this same clinic 3 times!! Than the wife of this 72 year old man visited this same GP subsequently twice but was NOT send to TTSH by the GP. She died of heart attack at home.

In short, this clinic already had 2 SARS patient visitiing it but no action was taken before the family of 8 visited the same clinic again. What was the GP doing???? Noticed also the family wasn't aware that the lady (Mrs Chia) died of SARS until when the news was release to the public SAT nite that she visited the same clinic as the 45 yr old SARS patient. That clinic was still operating that Sat morning hence the family went to visit the GP in the midst of preparing for Mrs Chia's wake on Sat afternoon." - citizen

The Other Side of the Walkabout Story - by Citizen
Hi, about the family of 8 saga, here are some facts you might like to know.

For your info, it was not all 8 of them who wandered around that area as some newspapers mentioned. It is only 1 family member who went to the food centre and another went to the medical hall. It might be their fault for walking around while they might be Sars suspect. However, who in the world would expect this deadly virus to unfortunately fall on so many of them in the family?

They thought they contracted fever was due to lack of sleep for the past few days and being under stress because of their mum's death who passed away suddenly during that same week.

They have gone to the food centre as they had not had their breakfast since that morning. They also could not prepare any food as they were so busy preparing for their mum's funeral and attending to friends and relatives who came for the wake for the past few days.

So that morning, one of the family member went to the nearby food centre to buy a drink and another to the medical hall. The ambulance also took so long to arrive. Moreover, there were 3 kids in this family during that time. Have we ever thought, maybe its the kids who need a drink?

In fact, one thing you may like to know.. this family had chose to seek medical attention immediately when they realise so many of them had contracted fever and not even able to send their beloved mother for her last journey when her body was to be cremate on the same day that afternoon! Do you know how sad this could be?

If they were to be present at the funeral, don't you think more
people might be affected!

I understand PM Goh wants to convey the importance of stopping the
virus from spreading and to punish those people who did not obey
the rules. I totally agree.

The 72 year old man's wife, fell ill and seek medical treatment from a GP 2 days before she passed away. She was running a fever and a cold and chest pain. The GP gave her medication and the old lady was asked to go back and rest. On the second day, she was still feeling unwell, having chest pain like pricking needles and also fever, she went back to the same GP again. The GP did not send her to TTSH immediately and was again asked to go home and rest. The old lady passed away at home in the afternoon the next day.

Having the symtoms so similar to Sars, why has not the GP called for an ambulance and sent the old lady to TTSH immediately, even on the 1st day when she was running a fever? The old lady might be alive today if she was given proper medical treatment and correct judgement earlier.

She was only diagnosed to have died from SARs yesterday but her initial autopsy report said was heart failure. Since the initial diagnosed indicated she did not died from Sars, a 4 days wake was then arranged for her.

If the authorities has suspected the old lady to have died from Sars instead of heart failure, a wake would not have then been arranged. Her body would have been sent for cremation immediately,

8 of the family members in this case, would not have contracted fever one by one during the wake or even during the time when the old lady was sick. They would not have then appeared at the food centre and would not have been criticised by the nation.

But its too late, the virus has already spread in the family and maybe in the wake where many friends and relatives turned up..

Up to date today, this family has 8 confirmed SARs case, the 72 year old man, his daughter, his son and his 4 grandchildren, aged 4, 8, 9 and 18month old. And don't know how many friends and relatives who have attended the wake, fearing the danger of contracting the fearful virus...

This family would have been a happy family today if the GP has given proper attention to the old lady when she was down with fever on her first visit to the clinic?

I felt devastated this family has come to this situation..

I am giving them my moral support and praying for them everyday, hoping those who are still in the hospital to get well soon.

Why? Because I am also part of this family!

(Niece of the 72 year old man, my father's brother)

The SGH controversy
There are many rumours going around that heads at SGH are going to roll. As the story goes, authorities believe the SGH cluster could have been avoided with better controls. They are, however, waiting for the SARS outbreak to die down somewhat before taking action against responsible administrators. This is in order to maintain public confidence.

From CNA Forum
Dear everyone,
Well i would like to take this opportunity and explain the fact that not every1 in sgh is taking sufficient precautions like TTSH...at this point in time all staffnurses in wards are allowed to wear only N95 masks in other wards as protection...in wds 57,58,47,48. staff clinic and A&E the measures taken are equivalent to TTSH...other than these AREAS...all sgh staff only wear masks n take their temperatures...no gloves,no aprons,no caps...MOH should audit sgh and speak to sgh top management level authorities...As much as the public is concerned, people working in sgh are also paranoid re: the increasing trends of cases...but too bad they've got a rice bowl to keep and still have to report for duty amidst all these fears..and are powerless...

Posted 7:03 PM

Dragon Boat Races Cancelled
I paddle for the Canadian Dragons of Singapore. This year, the Nationals have been cancelled due to SARS. The reason being that authorities were concerned that with the 20,000-30,000 spectators that come for this event, if there was a SARS outbreak it would be impossible to trace. It is a big let down as teams have been training hard all season. The expat community will nevertheless be holding their own private regatta on June 1st from. This will be a much smaller affair.

This year's regatta would have been the first time that the women's Breast Cancer Survivor Team raced. A team from Vancouver was due to join in the event but they had to cancel beasue of the travel advisory. It is a great disappointment but we are looking forward to resuming paddling life as normal at the December races.

Posted 6:19 PM

Burried in the detail: A Human Statistic
Singapore reported a 23rd SARS death yesterday. The deceases is a 77 year old man who was in SGH Radiology on 1 April at the same time as the index case of the SGH cluster. He became unwell on 9th April and has been listed as probable SARS since 11 April. His wife, 67, caught SARS from him and was listed as a SARS case since 18 April. She survived only a week and died on April 24th - four days ago. He survived the virus a month but perhaps this last tradgedy precepitated losing the battle.

Don't Sneeze in Malta (if you're Chinese)
A man working in a Chinese restaurant in Malta was thrown into quarantine after he started to sneeze. He is not the only victim of Maltese vigilence. Two people were sent for observation on their return from a trip to Australia after spending two hour in Singapore on transit.

Posted 12:52 AM

SARS Symptom Chart: See how SARS is and isn't like some common illnesses.

Vietnam praised for SARS victory
Vietnam has gone 20 days with no new SARS cases. This meets the WHO requirement for eliminateion as an affected are... doesn't it? As of yesterday, Hanoi remained on the list of SARS-dirty cities. Vietnam has closed its northern border with China indefinitely in an effort to stop new cases crossing into the country.

Posted 11:03 PM

SARS much more deadly than first estimated
The media is now starting to cotton on to the real death rate of SARS... Don't say you didn't hear it.. about 3 weeks ago!

Posted 6:23 PM

Is Singapore Over the Hump?
MOH statistics depicted in the graph below indicate that the virus may once again be in decline. the setback caused by the SGH cluster is evident... Can we avoid another such incident?