Newsgroup: it.scienza.medicina
Titolo: nuovo virus incurabile ?

Ho trovato per caso questo articolo, pubblicato 4 ore fa. Mi pare
estremamente importante ed e' strano che non l'abbia visto sulla nostra
stampa. Penso possa interessare  :
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/3758400.html
WHO alert: Mysterious illness is 'worldwide health threat'
Lawrence K. Altman and Keith Bradsher, New York Times
Published March 16, 2003SARS16
As a mysterious respiratory illness spread to more countries, the World
Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday took the rare step of issuing a health
alert, declaring the ailment "a worldwide health threat" and urging all
countries to help in seeking its cause and control.
The agency said that in the past week it had received reports of more than
150 new suspected cases of the illness, now known as severe acute
respiratory syndrome, or SARS. The syndrome has caused at least nine deaths,
the last one a nurse in Hanoi. Some victims have recovered, but no one has
been up, around and healthy in the past two weeks. It apparently does not
respond to antiviral and antibiotic drugs.
The cause has not been identified. Scientists do not know whether it is a
virus or even an infectious agent. Although health officials have suspected
avian influenza, which has infected a small number of people sporadically in
Hong Kong since 1997, laboratory tests have not detected that rare strain,
known as influenza A(H5N1). As a result, scientists are focusing on the
possibility of a previously unknown infectious agent.
Reported cases have come from Canada and six countries in Asia -- Hong Kong
and elsewhere in China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam, the health organization said.
There have been no reports of the illness in the United States. But
Saturday, an ill passenger and two companions who traveled from New York
City were removed from a flight after it arrived in Frankfurt and put in
isolation in a German hospital.
The passenger is a doctor from Singapore who treated one of the earliest
cases there and who flew to a medical meeting in New York City, said Dick
Thompson, a spokesman for WHO. The doctor may have gone to a hospital in New
York -- the agency is not certain which one -- before flying back to
Singapore via Frankfurt with his wife and another doctor. Before boarding
the flight, the doctor called a colleague in Singapore to describe his
symptoms, and the colleague notified the World Health Organization.
Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), said at a news conference Saturday that it appeared to
take direct and sustained contact to transmit the illness from an affected
individual to other people. "There is no evidence to suggest that this can
be spread through brief contact or assemblages of large numbers of people,"
she said.
Asked whether this might be an instance of bioterrorism, she replied, "We
are keeping an open mind."
Main symptoms
In an emergency advisory issued Saturday, the WHO, an arm of the United
Nations based in Geneva, said that "there is presently no indication to
restrict travel to any destination."
But, Gerberding said, "We are advising persons planning nonessential or
elective travel to affected areas that they may wish to postpone their trip
until further notice."
WHO and U.S. officials urged all travelers to be aware of the main symptoms
and signs. In addition to breathing problems, the illness can cause a dry
cough and other flu-like symptoms that apparently develop two to seven days
after exposure. They usually start with a sudden onset of high fever and go
on to include muscle aches, headache, sore throat and shortness of breath.
Standard laboratory tests often show low numbers of white blood cells and
platelets, which help blood to clot.
WHO said that any passenger or airline crew member who developed such
symptoms should immediately seek medical attention and ensure that
information about their recent travel is passed on to the health care staff.
"Any traveler who develops these symptoms is advised not to undertake
further travel until they have recovered," the agency said.
If a passenger became ill on a flight, the agency asked airlines to alert
the airport of destination and to refer any ill passengers to airport health
officials.
"There are currently no indications to restrict the onward travel of well
passengers, but all passengers and crew should be advised to seek medical
attention if they develop" symptoms, the agency said.
In another rare step, the CDC activated its emergency operations center in
Atlanta, including sophisticated communications technology, to enhance its
ability to coordinate information from other countries and to investigate
any suspect cases in this country.
The CDC has used the operations center only twice before, for the
mosquito-borne West Nile fever epidemic last year and the anthrax attacks in
2001. The last time the WHO issued a global health alert was in 1993, to
enhance measures to control tuberculosis. WHO officials said they could not
recall the last time an emergency global travel advisory was issued.
The secretary of health and human services, Tommy Thompson, said his
department "is applying a full-court press to learn more about this outbreak
and how it might impact on the United States."
The CDC is investigating the travel histories of the passengers who are now
in a German hospital as well as one of the eight cases suspected to be the
new syndrome in Toronto and Vancouver that Canadian officials reported on
Friday.

stampa. 
Ne hanno parlato al TG5. Ci sono gli aeroporti in allarme (anche a
fiumicino).
-- 
Ignazio GSS© * More than 90 HiRes images in my home page  
http://www.geocities.com/ipuddu/
200 Images of digestive endoscopy
http://www.areamedica.com

 stampa. Penso possa interessare  :
mi pare che oggi sia su tutti i giornali
Comunque è almeno dalla prima metà di febbraio che fa notizia, almeno in
Asia.
Piersante Sestini