HYDERABAD, April 25: The participants at a one-day symposium on “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and its preventive measures” on Friday called the epidemic a global threat and stressed the need for taking appropriate measures at all entry points of the country to prevent the disease from entering the country.
They said Pakistan is a developing country which already lacks medical facilities and any negligence in preventing the disease’s entry into Pakistan will cause a great catastrophe in the country due to illiteracy and lack of medical facilities.
Eminent doctors including Vice Chancellor Liaquat University Medical and Health Sciences (Jamshoro) Dr Jan Mohammad Memon, Dr A. Bachayo Memon, Dr Noor Mohammad Memon, Dr Qasim Ali Khwaja, Dr Sharaf Baloch and others spoke at the symposium, which was organized by the LUMHS at the City lecture hall, Liaquat University Hospital City Branch, Hyderabad.
They said proper arrangements should be made at all important airports such as Karachi and Lahore by taking interviews with passengers coming from affected countries and notifying passengers having problems of fever and troubled breathing to avert entry of the deadly disease into the country.
They said the WHO recently confirmed coronovirus, a virus family which causes the common cold, as the cause of SARS. However, it would take “months to years” to develop a full treatment.
They termed the outbreak of epidemic a global threat, and cautioned that if appropriate measures were not taken at the international and national level to control it, it might prove more dangerous than perceived.
They said the disease broke out in South East Asia through travel by the people infected by the deadly epidemic, adding that about 4,439 cases have been reported in the affected countries including Hong Kong, China, Canada, Bulgaria, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
They said that 278 people infected with the disease had died so far.
They said that three cases of SARS had been detected in India during the last two days, which created fears of cases having trickled into Pakistan.
They described the symptoms of SARS disease as high fever with a temperature of more than 38C (100F), dry cough, and breathing difficulties.
They said SARS is a highly contagious disease as it seems mainly to spread through droplets, particularly coughing and sneezing, adding that many of the early victims are close relatives, friends or hospital staff who might have not taken sufficiently strong precautions when treating what was an unknown threat.
Talking on the best treatment, they said that no one knows yet as scientists are working to devise effective answers for what they are trying to fight against; however, anti-viral treatments and antibiotics have been used so far.
However, they suggested precautionary measures as installing screening arrangements before passengers are allowed on flights, and wearing surgical masks. Washing hands is probably a good bet since viruses can spread like wildfire through contact with other people’s hands or infected surfaces.
Keeping in view that there is no cure, vaccine or diagnostic test for the mysterious respiratory virus, the participants of the symposium asked the government of Sindh to establish a separate section for SARS patients in the Civil Hospital Hyderabad as it was the leading public hospital of Sindh.
They also stressed the need for launching a mass-awareness campaign among the people about the hazards of the disease.
They expressed grave concern over reports that the authorities were not doing enough to stop the virus that causes SARS from entering Pakistan at the Karachi airport.
They demanded that the authorities concerned take precautionary measures as soon as possible to save the country from any catastrophic manifestations of the disease.—APP