China issues virus alert after 23 die
http://tinyurl.com/63shqw
Enterovirus-71 has killed 23 children, sickened 4,000 others. Hong
Kong, Taiwan, Singa****e and Vietnam also have outbreaks. Beijing seeks
to avoid coverup charges as Olympics near.
By Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
11:00 AM PDT, May 3, 2008
BEIJING -- The Chinese Health Ministry issued a nationwide alert today
over a virus that has killed 23 children and sickened more than 4,000
others, as it scrambled to fend off a potential scandal over a
coverup.
The latest victim of enterovirus-71 was an 18-month-old boy in
southern Guangdong province who died Friday. The death was the first
outside the Anhui province city of Fuyang, 1,000 miles to the north.
Disease has also broken out in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singa****e and
Vietnam, although no deaths have been re****ted there.
The virus is a perennial in the summer months in Asia, but the
outbreak this year appears to be larger than usual. Because the
disease usually peaks in June and July, more deaths are expected.
Kindergartens in Fuyang have been ordered closed until mid-May, and
residents described an atmosphere of panic. One newspaper, the
Liaoshen Evening News, printed a large headline reading simply,
"Death," next to a photo of a health inspection van parked in front of
a kindergarten.
"There are noticeably very few children or infants on the street,"
said a 24-year-old student from Fuyang who asked not to be quoted by
name. "Even some adults are afraid to step out."
Chinese health officials were quoted on state television Friday saying
that as part of the nationwide alert, they would send doctors out in
search of patients rather than waiting for them to come to the
hospital.
The outbreak comes at a sensitive time for China, in the throes of
preparations for the Summer Olympics, which will open here Aug. 8.
Memories are still fresh from the 2003 epidemic of severe acute
respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in which China's reputation suffered
from charges of a coverup.
In this latest case, parents in Fuyang have accused local health
officials of lying about the disease. At a news conference, Fuyang
officials admitted only "several deaths" and implied that the disease
was not contagious. At one kindergarten where a child died, staff were
re****tedly told they would be fired if they leaked news of the death.
"The municipal government used lies to dispel rumors and ordered the
departments concerned to shut up," an editorial in the Beijing News
complained.
Enterovirus-71 is characterized by a fever, sores in the mouth and
blistery rashes. Sometimes known as hand, foot and mouth disease, it
is not related to the similarly named disease that afflicts cattle.
Most cases are not fatal, and the contagion can usually be controlled
by hand-wa****ng and improved hygiene, according to a notice posted
Thursday by the World Health Organization about the outbreak in China.
The agency said "it is not necessary to restrict travel or trade."
barbara.demick@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Wenhuan in the Times' Beijing bureau contributed to this article.
|
