BillCosby

Title
Don't worry: China says:deadly child virus in China not a threat to Olympics

Link
The Associated Press: WHO: deadly child virus in China not a threat to Olympics
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Excerpt

By HENRY SANDERSON – 13 hours ago

BEIJING (AP) — A highly infectious virus that has killed 25 children in China is unlikely to be a threat to the Beijing Olympics, although it is too early to tell whether it has peaked, the World Health Organization said Sunday.

The death toll from the virus, which mostly sickens children, rose to 25 Sunday as a new death was reported in the southern province of Guangdong, despite heightened efforts by China's Health Ministry to contain it.

More than 620 new cases of viral infections have been reported in central China, raising the number of people sickened to 5,151, state media said.

The outbreak of enterovirus 71 — which causes a severe type of hand, foot and mouth disease — is another headache for the Communist government as it prepares for the Olympic Games, already tarnished by unrest among Tibetans in western China and an international torch relay disrupted by protests.

"I don't see it at all as a threat to the Olympics or any upcoming events ... This is a disease mainly affecting young children," WHO China representative Hans Troedsson told a news conference.

Troedsson said the virus normally peaks in June and July, meaning there could still be an increase in infections as the weather warms. The disease thrives in hot climates, and Asia has seen increased occurrences, including in Singapore, Vietnam and Taiwan, he said.

The 622 new cases of enterovirus 71 were all in Anhui province, with 362 in the hardest-hit city of Fuyang, the official Xinhua News Agency said late Monday.

China's Health Ministry issued a nationwide alert over the weekend after the virus, also known as EV-71, infected more than 4,500 children in central Anhui province resulting in 22 deaths.

The most recent reported death occurred about 1,000 miles to the south in Guangdong province.

"What we have seen so far is no connection between or among these different outbreaks," Troedsson said.

The first deaths in Anhui occurred in late March, but the public were not told until April 15, according to China's state broadcaster CCTV.

Troedsson said the delay was due to difficulties diagnosing the causes of the deaths, as they did not show the normal symptoms. WHO was told within 24 hours of the correct diagnosis, he said.

Suspicion continues to surround the Chinese government's handling of disease outbreaks following allegations of a cover-up during the 2003 emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, which originated in southern China and eventually killed nearly 800 people worldwide.

Hand, foot and mouth viruses cause fever, mouth sores and rashes with blisters and are easily spread by sneezing or coughing. The viruses mainly strike children aged 10 and younger. Some cases can lead to fatal brain swelling.

There is no vaccine or specific treatment, but most children affected by the disease typically recover quickly without problems.

However, EV-71 can result in a more serious form of the illness that can lead to paralysis, brain swelling or death. Many of the severe cases in China did not exhibit typical symptoms, and the children eventually died from respiratory problems, which kept Chinese experts puzzled about the cause of the outbreak, Troedsson said.

The disease, which is not related to foot and mouth disease that affects livestock, is endemic across Asia and many countries experience annual flare-ups.

Associated Press Medical Writer Margie Mason contributed to this story

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Comment:

Don't worry be happy......... This aint the lead paint talking here they said it is ok. Not to worry.. 10,000 recalls a month these folks know a problem when they see one............

__________________
Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

guest1234567

Hans Troedsson is Chinese?

BillCosby

“Extensive research shows that by combining common approaches to the drug problem with harm reduction methods such as drug substitution treatment, an effective response can be achieved,”

Hans Troedsson quote
Add to Chapter...


“This combination approach can not only avert an HIV crisis but also directly addresses the problem of drug use.”

Hans Troedsson quote
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“We don't have any indication that there is not a good reporting system.”

Hans Troedsson quote


“It is worrisome if health care workers are not alert and taking specimens if they suspect an influenza-type illness.”

Hans Troedsson quote
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“This is not a Vietnamese problem; this is a global public health problem where Vietnam is at the front line,”

Hans Troedsson quote
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“We got no indication that the virus had changed.”

Hans Troedsson quote
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“Dengue is not outside the tropical zone, it is not a threat for international public health, ... For Europeans or people from North America, the threat for dengue is if you visit (Asia), while with avian influenza if it mutates it will immediately be a threat for every household in the world.”

Hans Troedsson quote
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“But it's not going to be contained in Vietnam if we get a pandemic of avian influenza. Within a very short time span it will spread all over the world.”

Hans Troedsson quote
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“While we have made impressive efforts at achieving results to tackle this epidemic ... we seem to be leaving some people behind. If there were some tendency that we leave the children behind in these global efforts, that would not only be unfortunate, it would be unacceptable.”

Hans Troedsson quote
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“We are actually disease-free in Vietnam for the moment. We're probably not virus-free, but what the mass vaccination has done is reduce the virus load in the environment we have less virus circulating.”

Hans Troedsson quote
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“Vietnam is still probably not virus-free because it was so widely spread, but they've been able to suppress the virus load. We don't have any indications of any suspected human cases. In the past, there were some issues about the reporting, but that's not the case now.”

Hans Troedsson quote
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“All uncontrolled movements of poultry are a risk factor that might lead to outbreaks. This needs to be controlled much more.”

Hans Troedsson quote
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“What we have seen in the last five or six months here is remarkable. If you had asked me eight months ago, I would have predicted a lot of human cases and poultry outbreaks in Vietnam, but that hasn't happened.”

Hans Troedsson quote

__________________
Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

guest1234567

A person I know is just getting over a particularly nasty case of dengue hemorrhagic fever in Panama. He was in intensive care for more than two weeks down there for but he pulled through. Nasty, nasty disease.