When, two decades later, SARS emerged as a potentially lethal viral infection, nurses and health care staff again faced considerable dangers as they strove to treat patients and protect their communities. Dr Dessmon Tai, who led the Singapore efforts against SARS, wrote that: "No other disease had such a phenomenal impact on healthcare workers." [9] But it seems that something in our professional ethos had changed over these two decades. There had been a rediscovery or reaffirmation of our professional ethic and mission as nurses, doctors and health professionals. In Hanoi, during the initial outbreak, rather than look for an 'opt-out' clause in their professional codes, doctors and nurses locked themselves into the hospital in isolation rather than risk spreading the disease [10] .