THE year is barely six months old and already we have at least two stories in contention for the slot of News of the Year. The first of course is American invasion, destruction and subsequent occupation of Iraq. And the second is Sars.
What started as a Who travel advisory to Hong Kong, is now a worldwide epidemic. From the bustling streets of Beijing to the corporate floors of the first world in Toronto, Canada, Sars has found home in newspaper headlines, both in the affected and the unaffected world. And there is no stopping this deadly scourge. Since its branding as an epidemic, in late February this year, scientists and their medical teams have been working tirelessly to bring this virus under control. But so far, their efforts have brought little fruit and they have even failed to track the exact origins of this virus.
However, thanks to the World Wide Web, surfers have the opportunity to track developments of this virus. And keeping them abreast with the latest Sars happenings and alerts is the web site of the World Health Organization. At http://www.who.int/csr/sars/en/ resides Sars, at least in the online version.
This site can ‘safely’ be labeled as the official Sars site. Who has put up a comprehensive, detailed web page that tracks the killer virus. It lists Sars as “an atypical pneumonia of unknown aetiology”. As the organization that is coordinating the international investigation into the origins and cure of the disease, with the assistance of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, Who is working closely with health authorities in the affected countries to provide epidemiological, clinical and logistical support as required. This site is part of that effort. This site is in fact the absolute news soruce for the media and the medical personel around the world with detailed breakup of the Sars affected countries, when the virus has been reported and where fatalities have occurred.
Other than the Who effort, the American administration’s Centre for Disease Control is making its own concerted efforts to bring the Sars scourge into control. With an online presence at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/, the CDC, probably one of the most highly skilled organizations that deal in disease control, has links to information for clinicians, the workplace and travel advisories this site caters to info needs of no less than seven different languages. However, it aren’t just organizations and government funded info tools that are at the forefront of the Sars war. Among the news organizations, the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2856735.stm has a comprehensive coverage, that includes a Q&A section. Apart form the latest news, that includes the rock band, INXS’ daring concert, held right in heart of Sars infected Singapore, there is also a Sars timeline, which to my surprise, tells us that the virus was first discovered in November 2002.
Local governments where Sars has struck the most, including China, Singapore and Taiwan, have also swung into action and placed web sites with detailed information regarding the epidemic and their (the government’s) efforts to bring it into control. Hong Kong is a good example that is doing its fair share in the fight against terr. opps, Sars! It contains a web page http://www.info.gov.hk/info/ap_leaflet_e.htm that informs us of ways to prevent atypical pneumonia, the kind Sars is. The page contains drawings making the info interesting to read, as compared to the plain text placed on other pages. The page also contains information in bullets and points making is easy for the reader.
Also on the vanguard in the struggle to save humanity against the spread of Sars, is the world tourism industry. It, like the airline industry has been most affected by this respiratory illness. In fact, some of its sections have been virtually devastated by Sars. That is why the World Tourism Organization http://www.world-tourism.org/ is keeping a close eye on the spread of Sars and subsequently issuing press releases to the effect. But, of course, it has to look at its own interests and that is why it has a press release from its secretary general who is warns against ‘over reaction’ to the Sars outbreak. With the annual holiday season just round the corner, such bureaucratically inspired statements are expected.
Another entry, How SARS Works http://www.howstuffworks.com/sars.htm is pretty entertaining (as much as this topic can be) to read site. An attempt is made here on this site to answer the very basic question, “How Sars works?” From symptoms to treatment to tracking the whereabouts of Sars, to the point information is available here. You can either read it online, or, waste precious paper and print the information on your laser jet. This site also tries to answer a few other basic questions like How Viruses Work and How Your Immune System Works. What else would one expect form a site titled, Howstuffworks?
But if the information that you have so far seen, read and downloaded, is not up to your liking, then you can for surely go to the Yahoo! http://health.yahoo.com/health/centers/asthma_allergy/501.html. Not only do they have info on Sars, but also on other breathing related diseases, like asthma, hay fever, sinusitis. But the Sars info here is not only for frightened tourists only. It is also for professionals. With x-rays of people infected with the disease and a note on the mapping of the Sars genome information here is easy to get and click. So, by now you must be well-versed in what exactly all the fuss is about, right? Well, there may just be a new twist to the whole thing. Not everything on the world wide web, that has Sars attached to it, is about the virus. And probably one of the best examples is the poor South African Revenue Service (or SARS) http://www.sars.gov.za/. Nothing of the usual virus stuff here, but just as deadly, considering that these are the people who are milking the poor South Africans.
THE year is barely six months old and already we have at least two stories in contention for the slot of News of the Year. The first of course is American invasion, destruction and subsequent occupation of Iraq. And the second is Sars.
