|
Sunday, March 23, 2003 at 06:00
JST
SINGAPORE — A mysterious and deadly form
of pneumonia now raging in Asia has infected 44 people in Singapore,
the Health Ministry said in its latest update on Saturday.
The ministry said another five people have contracted "severe
acute respiratory syndrome" (SARS) since the last update on Friday
when 39 people were reported to have caught the virus.
So far the illness has not spread beyond hospital staff and
friends and relatives of those infected earlier.
Only three patients have been discharged from hospital and eight
are seriously ill.
The ministry has stepped up precautionary measures to cut off
secondary transmission especially among hospital staff and reduce
the risk of any community spread by isolating and treating all SARS
cases in two hospitals.
The ministry has also taken precautionary measures for school
children by requiring the children of people who have any links to
infected patients to stay away from school for another week.
In addition, it is requiring stepped up vigilance in schools,
preschools and child care centers, with children who have a fever to
be asked to seek medical attention and to return to school only when
they are well.
The government appealed to citizens to remain calm.
"We also advise you to stay calm and continue with your daily
routine. Though SARS is infectious, there is no need for alarm as
your risk of catching SARS is low," the ministry said.
The ministry said recently that it believes it has identified the
virus as paramyxovirus, which is known to be related to diseases
such as mumps, measles and Japanese encephalitis.
The breakout erupted in Singapore about a week ago when three
women came down with pneumonia after returning from Hong Kong.
(Kyodo News)
Japan Today Discussion
Start
The Discussion,
Post Your Opinion!
Most Popular Discussions
Within the last 4
days
More Popular Recent
Discussions...
All
Discussions By Start Date...
All
Discussions By Last Message Date...
All
Discussions By Number Of Messages...
Most
Recent Messages...
BBS posting is now only allowed to
Japan Today's registered users.
Registration allows you to have a unique User Name on the
discussion board!
If you already have an account, please login.
Otherwise, please
take a minute to register.
Registration takes less than one minute. We respect your privacy
and will not sell your email address to third parties without your
permission.
Please address technical questions to bbs@japantoday.com.
For
letters and editorial questions or comments, please contact jteditor@japantoday.com.
Thank you!
Back
 |
"Koizumi is a paranoid
sucker."
"I saw them on the news and was
encouraged by them because I also have been protesting against
the war."
