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In Hong Kong, Health Officials Say 80 New Cases of SARS
Aired March 31, 2003 - 13:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: In Hong Kong, health officials say that there have been two new deaths and 80 new case of SARS, the fast respiratory disease that we have been talking about in the press for the last couple of days.
And joining us now with more details about this is our medical news correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Leon, this is a scary sounding disease. SARS stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome. And there are now many cases across the world, and there are also cases in the United States. If there's some good news here that the Centers for Disease Control believes they may be zeroing in on the cause of it never before seen strain of the Corona virus, which the Corona virus has also caused some common colds.
What we're seeing now is that in some parts of Asia, schools are closing, because so many children have come down with the disease. Also in many parts of Asia, there you see some of the signs for the schools that are closing.
Also, in some parts of Asia, there have been people wearing masks. And so that's caused people obviously great concern.
And worldwide, let's take a look at this statistics. There have been thousand of cases worldwide, 1,622 people sick and 58 deaths.
Now let's take a look in the United States. In the United States, it's very interesting; 55 people have traveled the countries where they have SARS and have gotten sick with the disease. That's 55 people. However, they haven't really spread if very far. Five people, in addition to those 55 who live with those travelers, have gotten sick from the travelers, and two health care workers who took care of those travelers have also got sick, and there have been no deaths.
It is important to note that even though as we have seen, you know, many people sick, there have been many deaths, but in the United States, this is not spreading beyond the immediate circle of the people who are infected. It's not spreading like wildfire.
HARRIS: So you don't think that Americans have to be worried about traveling overseas and bringing back something like that.
COHEN: The CDC does say if you have some elective travel coming up to certain parts of the world, you may want to consider changing your plans. Let's take a look at that specific advice. The CDC says Americans may wish to post postpone travel to mainland China, to Hong Kong, to Singapore and to Hanoi, Vietnam. It's also important to remember, if you have traveled to those places, you come back with a temperature of over about 101 degrees and you have a cough or a breathing problem, you must, must, must call your doctor, because if they think you have it, they're going to put you in isolation.
HARRIS: All right, so if you do travel, how do you keep yourself protected from it? I mean, how's it transmitted? It is transmitted through physical contact, breathing, what?
COHEN: It's transmitted person to person. So if I had SARS right now and I sneezed and didn't cover my hand, I could give it to you, because those droplets might travel to you.
Now what doctors think is that it really travels mostly sort of in small circles, the people you live with, the doctor who puts the stick in your mouth and gets very close to your face.
However, they say it might also travel, or appears it is also traveling in wider circles, but they can't exactly say. I asked them at the CDC, If I'm in a elevator with someone who SARS, can I get it? And they said the answer to that is, we just don't know.
HARRIS: Wow. That's a bit unsettling.
COHEN: Wow. It is a bit unsettling, but remember, 3.5 percent death rate from this disease, that's lower than many other infectious diseases. Still not a good thing, but it's not killing most people. In fact, most people recover just fine.
HARRIS: That could give researchers time to find some answers.
COHEN: Absolutely.
HARRIS: Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired March 31, 2003 - 13:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: In Hong Kong, health officials say that there have been two new deaths and 80 new case of SARS, the fast respiratory disease that we have been talking about in the press for the last couple of days.
And joining us now with more details about this is our medical news correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Leon, this is a scary sounding disease. SARS stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome. And there are now many cases across the world, and there are also cases in the United States. If there's some good news here that the Centers for Disease Control believes they may be zeroing in on the cause of it never before seen strain of the Corona virus, which the Corona virus has also caused some common colds.
What we're seeing now is that in some parts of Asia, schools are closing, because so many children have come down with the disease. Also in many parts of Asia, there you see some of the signs for the schools that are closing.
Also, in some parts of Asia, there have been people wearing masks. And so that's caused people obviously great concern.
And worldwide, let's take a look at this statistics. There have been thousand of cases worldwide, 1,622 people sick and 58 deaths.
Now let's take a look in the United States. In the United States, it's very interesting; 55 people have traveled the countries where they have SARS and have gotten sick with the disease. That's 55 people. However, they haven't really spread if very far. Five people, in addition to those 55 who live with those travelers, have gotten sick from the travelers, and two health care workers who took care of those travelers have also got sick, and there have been no deaths.
It is important to note that even though as we have seen, you know, many people sick, there have been many deaths, but in the United States, this is not spreading beyond the immediate circle of the people who are infected. It's not spreading like wildfire.
HARRIS: So you don't think that Americans have to be worried about traveling overseas and bringing back something like that.
COHEN: The CDC does say if you have some elective travel coming up to certain parts of the world, you may want to consider changing your plans. Let's take a look at that specific advice. The CDC says Americans may wish to post postpone travel to mainland China, to Hong Kong, to Singapore and to Hanoi, Vietnam. It's also important to remember, if you have traveled to those places, you come back with a temperature of over about 101 degrees and you have a cough or a breathing problem, you must, must, must call your doctor, because if they think you have it, they're going to put you in isolation.
HARRIS: All right, so if you do travel, how do you keep yourself protected from it? I mean, how's it transmitted? It is transmitted through physical contact, breathing, what?
COHEN: It's transmitted person to person. So if I had SARS right now and I sneezed and didn't cover my hand, I could give it to you, because those droplets might travel to you.
Now what doctors think is that it really travels mostly sort of in small circles, the people you live with, the doctor who puts the stick in your mouth and gets very close to your face.
However, they say it might also travel, or appears it is also traveling in wider circles, but they can't exactly say. I asked them at the CDC, If I'm in a elevator with someone who SARS, can I get it? And they said the answer to that is, we just don't know.
HARRIS: Wow. That's a bit unsettling.
COHEN: Wow. It is a bit unsettling, but remember, 3.5 percent death rate from this disease, that's lower than many other infectious diseases. Still not a good thing, but it's not killing most people. In fact, most people recover just fine.
HARRIS: That could give researchers time to find some answers.
COHEN: Absolutely.
HARRIS: Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
