SARS scare: Korean girl rushed to RITM

The deadly SARS virus may not be spreading in the Philippines but anxiety over Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is "infecting" Filipinos faster than the virus itself.

As suspected and imagined SARS cases sprouted in hospitals all over the country, airport authorities rushed a just-arrived seven-year-old Korean girl to a government facility for SARS testing yesterday.

The girl, known by the initials SHP, was supposed to go to Boracay island with her parents for a vacation.

But when SHP and her parents arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at 11:30 a.m. yesterday, airport doctors found that she had developed a fever of 40 degrees Celsius while on board Korean Airlines Flight KE 621.

But RITM officials stressed that they have not established if the girl had indeed contracted SARS.

Health officials of Mandaluyong City said the same was true of two Filipino-Canadians, identified as BM and MM, who are now confined in an unspecified hospital in the city.

Alarmed about the impact of SARS rumors on his city, Mandaluyong Mayor Benhur Abalos Jr. prepared a special confinement area at the Mandaluyong City Medical Center for patients who have fever and cough.

SARS suspect in Baguio City

In Baguio City, however, regional health officials confirmed that an Indian missionary who is now confined at the Baguio General Hospital is suspected of having SARS.

Department of Health (DOH) chief regional epidemiologist Julius Alcala refused to identify the missionary but confirmed that she is being observed for SARS.

Alcala said the missionary arrived from an unspecified country on April 26 and proceeded to Baguio City on the same day via an air-conditioned bus.

Prior to her arrival in the country, health officials claimed the missionary had come from India, Thailand and Cambodia. The health officials did not reveal other details.

Baguio City health officials are now conducting a "contract tracing procedure" to determine the places she had gone to and the people with whom she had direct or indirect contact.

Suspects all over

In Bacolod City, patients and personnel of the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital wore masks in quiet apprehension over the confinement of a Filipino who has just returned from working in Taiwan.

Provincial health officer Luisa Efren said the woman did not have a fever but was coughing. An x-ray showed that she had tuberculosis with pneumonia.

In Cagayan de Oro City, residents were alarmed by text messages that a supposed SARS patient was admitted to the Catholic Church-operated Maria Reyna Hospital.

The 25-year-old female patient had supposedly returned on Mar. 31 from a trip to Shanghai, China.

Cagayan de Oro health officer Jack Calingasan said the woman sought medical assistance from the Maria Reyna Hospital after she experienced severe pain from a urinary tract infection.

But patients and medical staff started wearing masks when they learned the woman had come from China. The woman was also asked to undergo an x-ray.

The woman apparently felt slighted when doctors suggested she undergo an x-ray and left the hospital in a huff.

Calingasan stressed the woman was not infected with SARS because she developed a fever 14 days after she arrived and two days after the quarantine period of 12 days.

But Calingasan stressed that the woman and her family are still under health surveillance.

Meanwhile, Customs Commissioner Antonio Bernardo denied anew that he ordered quarantine measures to be implemented on clothing, meat and meat products imported from China and Hong Kong.

In a letter to The STAR, Bernardo said there was no information to suggest that goods imported from SARS-affected areas could be carriers of the pathogen.

Also, Bernardo said the Bureau of Customs has no authority to impose quarantines, which is within the authority of the Departments of Health and Agriculture. – With Non Alquitran, Christina Mendez, Andy Zapata, Artemio Dumlao, Bong Fabe, Antonieta Lopez, Perseus Echeminada, Cesar Ramirez, Mayen Jaymalin and Marichu Villanueva