SARS

[[XLII] CK]

(Lo all, hmmm, maybe I'll play some CS this weekend, it's been a while... been playing too much BF1942..)

Ok, I'm getting really peeved by all the mis-information and distortion of facts being thrown around by the Media in non-Canadian countries when they talk about SARS in Toronto.

I live in Toronto.  I work at a company of 100 people.  I live in a 30 story apartment building with 900 units.  I walk by 1000 people on the way to work.  

No-one is wearing a mask.  No one is worried much about themselves (except maybe the one or two whose significant others work in the medical community).  None of us are worrying about it.  No one is being prevented from leaving Toronto.  The whole of Toronto is not under quarentine.  No one can prevent me from coming to visit you.  My Mom (lives 1500 miles away) watches a CBC news special, and isn't worried.

Don't get me wrong, we did wonder for the first half week.  And we do wonder if the odd SOB breaking quarentine won't keep us from eliminating this thing quickly.  Everyone is taking it seriously, and the people in the medical community are scrambling.  We do wonder wtf is going to happen in China and elsewhere in 2nd and 3rd world countries - especially Africa (South Africa has what, 30% AIDS infection rate, and they expect SARS to be MUCH more lethal in people with diseases like that).

The WHO officials who put out the warning yesterday about Toronto did NOT talk to Toronto's, Ontario's, or Canadian health officials.  They made their decision in Brussels, from the sounds of it based upon Media reports alone.

Here is the official word from the people who are on the front lines - and this isn't China, I pay these people's salary and I trust them:

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/04/23/who_sars030423

The city's medical officer called WHO's advisory "shocking." Sheela Basrur called the advisory "a gross misrepresentation of facts."

A doctor in Toronto involved in the struggle against SARS says the warning against travel to Toronto is "ridiculous."

WHO warned people to avoid all unnecessary travel to Toronto, Beijing and China's Shanxi province because of SARS. The three locations join Hong Kong and China's Guangdong province, already on WHO's list.

Donald Low, chief microbiologist at the city's Mount Sinai Hospital said the community is not at risk.

He says a lack of secondary cases over the past two weeks indicates the disease has been contained in Toronto.

Media stories on CNN are starting out with 5 minutes of awfully distorted information I've heard - yes medical personnel in Buffalo are taking precautions - that's because one single lone "escapee" typically causes a chain of infections in medical settings before it's contained - so it makes perfect sense.  It's only after the 5 minute hyper introduction does CNN start interviewing medical professionals, at which point the professionals say "Sars is 2-3 out of 10 on a scale of infectious diseases".  

BBC stories talk about the "outrage of the controversial Toronto mayor Mel Lastman", but utterly forget to mention that every single medical professional in Canada thinks that the WHO advisory is baloney.

From what I've heard, many of the media stories in Britain are 10 times as distorted - especially given your tradition of the Tabloids.  I hope the average Briton doesn't use them as a primary source of information as to what's going on in the world  :wink:

[Dr Sadako]

I thought it was bollocks when I heared it and now it is confirmed. We (in Sweden that is) are waiting for Mats Sundin to join our icehockey team for the world cup in Finland. And the sports pages in all the newspapers would have been all over the SARS/Sundin story if he wasn't coming.

Thanks for the confirmation CK.

[smilodon]

But the Daily Express says it's going to be worse than AIDS and that were all

[size=24]DOOMED


Seriously though, in the same time as SARS has taken to kill 250 people across the whole globe, stuffing your face full of cakes and pork pies has claimed the lives of about 3000 in just the U.K .....makes ya think :end:

[Stryker]

about 5 people have been killed by their bedside alarm clock in that time too!

[smilodon]

CK's comments have got me on a roll right now and after some more mindless foaming rants from our tabliod press and some stultifyingly ignorant comments on a phone in show that I listened to this morning, I considered the following thoughts.....

Malaria kills 3,000 children in Africa every day, that's one every thirty seconds.

Post Natal Tetanus (curable with three injections costing about £0.75) kills 500,000 babies a year and 60,000 mothers, all for want of that 75p investment.

But because they're not on our TV screens, because there's little chance of us catching the deseases and dare I say it because the victims are almost exclusively not the same colour as us, our media and by definition we ourselves sadly seem unconcerned for their plight.

As usual lead by our press we are preoccupied with our own welfare and ignorant of the suffering of others.

And another African child dies of malaria in the time it takes to read this  

Rant over for now

[Gh0st Face Killah]

I have to agree with your comments Smilodon as my misses pointed out the malaria one to me as well. And it has to be said its a bloody disgrace!!

[Stryker]

sars has been killing rich people as smiley says.  Thats the diff.

[Doorman]

I can't help but wonder if all things that kill people were alleviated and we only EVER died of graceful old age, we'd be standing shoulder to shoulder a long, long time ago.

[Dingo]

I can't help but wonder if all things that kill people were alleviated and we only EVER died of graceful old age, we'd be standing shoulder to shoulder a long, long time ago.

How on Earth can you die of graceful old age when you have CS??  8O

......Don't we die everyday of some (imagined) illness??......bad mouseitis, notfeelingwellitous, badnighteous, laggyitous, wifeyitous, haxoritous or drunkyitous???   :oops:  :wink: