5 years after sars, hong kong chooses caution, closing schools amid flu outbreak

Hong Kong's top wellness official faced a crucial decision when flu started ripping through schools and a few kid died: Should he play it safe and close schools or wait a while thirster to see what test consequence revealed?

Food and wellness Secretary Dr. York Chow called a sudden late-night news conference last week to order more than half a 1000000 kindergarten and grade school students to stay home for two weeks. Before that same day, he had told newsman there would be no need for such a move.

But the latest death of a 7-year-old boy and the hospitalization of five of his schoolmate continued to weigh on Chow. Given Hong Kong's history of being hit by new infectious diseases, such as the H5N1 bird flu virus and SARS, Chow chose the 'good safe than sorry' path amid new bird flu outbreaks in mainland China and world fears that a flu pandemic could start anytime, anywhere.

"It may be a little bit drastic, but it is reassuring to the community," Chow said when devising Thursday's proclamation. "When outbreaks happen, if you wait until you have all the data to make a determination, it may be too late. Even although what I did carries some political risk and poses a certain amount of pressure level on me, I think this will make Hong Kong safer."

Tests later revealed that the boy and a 3-year-old girl who died before had underlying health job that were likely exacerbated by flu viruses circulating in the part.

The school closing was the boldest public wellness decision Hong Kong has made since SARS hit in 2003, and a wellness official said mon that the eruption has not yet peaked as more people continue to fall ill.

"The less you know, the more stringent you must be," said Dr. David Heymann, the World Health Organization's top flu expert, who added that Hong Kong often serves as an indicator of undetected diseases circulating in mainland China.

The move did not incite fear, and only an occasional protective surgical mask was spotted on the city's busy streets.

Exactly five years ago, Hong Kong faced another major health dilemma. A mysterious virus was killing people, but Chow's predecessor, Dr. Yeoh Eng-kiong, downplayed fears and was slow in responding to the threat that would eventually be named severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

The virus infected 1,755 people in Hong Kong, killing 299 of the nearly 800 that succumbed worldwide. Many of the city's nearly 7 million people were gripped by fear, and the disease became symbolized by photos of residents donning surgical masks. The economy nose-dived as investors and tourists stayed away.

Yeoh took responsibility and resigned. Chow, the surgeon who replaced him, decided that overreaction to the current outbreak was better than an insufficient response, even though it was still unclear at the time what caused the children's deaths.

Chow's decision was largely embraced, but some parents and educators expressed frustration. Many were forced to scramble to find last-minute child care and some students unknowingly reported to school.

"During SARS, they did the wrong thing," said June Ng, whose 8-year-old daughter was off from school, even though none of her classmates had fallen ill. "It's the same situation. They don't know how to handle it. They don't know what to do."

SARS first appeared in southern China in late 2002, and Hong Kong earlier faced another virus that experts believe originated on the mainland: bird flu.

In 1997, current WHO chief Margaret Chan was Hong Kong's director of health when she too faced a major decision. A new virus was killing chickens and people. Before it was identified as the virulent H5N1 bird flu virus, she ordered the extermination of all poultry across the former British colony, which maintains separate political and economic systems from the mainland.

About 1.5 million birds were slaughtered in just three days, markets were sanitized and new standards were adopted. Chan was hailed for taking fast action, and the virus disappeared. It re-emerged elsewhere in Asia in late 2003, ravaging poultry stocks.

Bird flu has killed at least 235 people worldwide since then, and scientists fear it could mutate into a more dangerous form that spreads easily among people. Most human cases so far have been linked to close contact with infected birds.

Chow said this year's human flu season is worse than last year's, perhaps because the cool period has been drier and much colder than usual. But research has shown that tropical climates typically experience flu outbreaks at various times year-round. Worldwide, seasonal influenza kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people each year, according to WHO.