DOH: SARS threat not immediate

Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit reassured Filipinos yesterday that there is no immediate threat of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in the country despite the reemergence of the disease in China.

"There is no reason to panic. We are aware of their problem and we are monitoring it. We have raised our alert system in different ports of entry on a high level to make sure that we keep track of potential suspect cases coming into the country," Dayrit said in a statement.

At Malacañang, President Arroyo also said the national government is prepared for a new outbreak of SARS in the country.

"The public should not be unduly alarmed by the new SARS outbreak in China because all the measures that helped us fight the diseases during its peak are still in place and are strictly being implemented," the President said.

Mrs. Arroyo said several measures are already in place, including efforts to inform foreign governments about the actual situation in the Philippines.

Two of these measures is for the Department of Foreign Affairs to provide assistance to overseas Filipinos suspected of having SARS and coordinating with foreign governments and international organizations in combating the spread of the virus.

Two new cases of SARS have been reported in Beijing and in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui, raising fears of a possible resurgence of the pneumonia-like disease.

The World Health Organization’s website showed that "results of investigation to date point to laboratory research at the National Institute of Virology in Beijing as the likely source of the outbreak" because it had been engaged in research on a SARS-causing coronavirus and the development of a vaccine against it.

WHO reported that the patients, a 26-year-old female postgraduate student from Anhui province and a 31-year-old man, were conducting research at the laboratory.

Dr. Jean Marc Olivé, WHO’s representative in the Philippines, noted that all contacts of the two SARS cases in China have been identified. He reaffirmed Dayrit’s statement that "there is no public health emergency in the Philippines, thus there is no reason to panic."

"We are, therefore, advising the public to remain calm as everything is under control. It is also still safe to go to China as there is no reported community spread yet. Their new cases are mainly due to laboratory contamination," Olivé said.

Dayrit said the government is now implementing safety measures to prevent SARS from entering the Philippines. These measures include the screening of incoming visitors at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), on top of the exit screenings done on these visitors from their countries of origin.

"We can never be so sure. So, if found with fever, passengers will be further evaluated," he said.

Dayrit added that there are nine thermal scanners that will screen incoming travelers at the NAIA, Cebu International Airport and Laoag International Airport.

"We have enough scanners to use so I believe it is impossible that we will miss a single potential suspect," he said.

Dayrit noted that in the event SARS does enter the country, the Department of Health is prepared to contain the disease. He said the DOH, as a result of its first brush with SARS, had put up SARS isolation facilities in major hospitals nationwide.

"We are in constant communication with WHO, which is sending experts to investigate the new wave of SARS cases in China, so we will be informed about any development that will stem from this latest occurrence of SARS," he said.

SARS infected 12 Filipinos, two of whom died, when it first surfaced last year.

First reported in Guangdong, China in February 2003, SARS is a viral respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus.

The disease spread to over 20 countries worldwide, killing 774 of the 8,908 people it had infected.

The WHO removed the Philippines from the list of countries affected by the SARS virus after the government successfully contained the disease in 2003. — With Marvin Sy