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Re: China: EV-71 outbreak Kills 19 children in Fuyang City
Re: China: EV-71 outbreak Kills 19 children in Fuyang City
Source: http://www.physorg.com/news128670918.html
Chinese officials accused of covering up killer virus
Local authorities in eastern China tried to cover up an outbreak of a highly contagious virus that has killed 20 children and left more than 1,500 others ill, Chinese press reports said Tuesday.
The China Youth Daily, the official organ of the Communist Youth League, compared the situation in Anhui province to the cover-up by Chinese officials of the SARS crisis in 2003.
"SARS has already taught us the lesson that local officials who neglected their duties, gave false reports, and wrongly reported accomplishments while doing prevention work were punished," it said in a report on the Anhui problems.
The first reports of the outbreak of the intestinal virus known as enterovirus 71, or EV71, emerged on Monday, with local Chinese officials quoted as saying 19 children had died and nearly 800 had been infected in Anhui.
By Tuesday, the official Xinhua news agency said the death toll had risen to 20 with 1,520 children infected.
But hospitals in Fuyang city in Anhui started in early March to take in children with fever, blisters, mouth ulcers or rashes on the hands and feet, all symptoms of the virus, Xinhua said.
In its article, the China Youth Daily said that far scarier than the actual epidemic was the local government's initial denial of rumours about the disease.
"When the terrifying virus had already infected more than 10 unrelated children, the local government denied the rumours, saying that "a few" infants and pre-school children had indeed died in quick succession after they contracted spring respiratory illnesses, but these illnesses did not have any "infectious link"," it said.
EV71, which causes hand, foot and mouth disease, usually affects infants and children.
It is very contagious and is spread through direct contact with the mucus, saliva, or faeces of an infected person. It typically occurs in small epidemics in nursery schools or kindergartens.
It rarely affects adults as they have a strong enough immune system to defeat the virus.
Re: China: EV-71 outbreak Kills 19 children in Fuyang City
Source: http://www.physorg.com/news128670918.html
Chinese officials accused of covering up killer virus
Local authorities in eastern China tried to cover up an outbreak of a highly contagious virus that has killed 20 children and left more than 1,500 others ill, Chinese press reports said Tuesday.
The China Youth Daily, the official organ of the Communist Youth League, compared the situation in Anhui province to the cover-up by Chinese officials of the SARS crisis in 2003.
"SARS has already taught us the lesson that local officials who neglected their duties, gave false reports, and wrongly reported accomplishments while doing prevention work were punished," it said in a report on the Anhui problems.
The first reports of the outbreak of the intestinal virus known as enterovirus 71, or EV71, emerged on Monday, with local Chinese officials quoted as saying 19 children had died and nearly 800 had been infected in Anhui.
By Tuesday, the official Xinhua news agency said the death toll had risen to 20 with 1,520 children infected.
But hospitals in Fuyang city in Anhui started in early March to take in children with fever, blisters, mouth ulcers or rashes on the hands and feet, all symptoms of the virus, Xinhua said.
In its article, the China Youth Daily said that far scarier than the actual epidemic was the local government's initial denial of rumours about the disease.
"When the terrifying virus had already infected more than 10 unrelated children, the local government denied the rumours, saying that "a few" infants and pre-school children had indeed died in quick succession after they contracted spring respiratory illnesses, but these illnesses did not have any "infectious link"," it said.
EV71, which causes hand, foot and mouth disease, usually affects infants and children.
It is very contagious and is spread through direct contact with the mucus, saliva, or faeces of an infected person. It typically occurs in small epidemics in nursery schools or kindergartens.
It rarely affects adults as they have a strong enough immune system to defeat the virus.
At yesterday's news conference, the city Health Bureau deputy director Wei Yan once again stressed this point of view. Fuyang City People's Hospital, said Liu Xiaolin, director of pediatrics, they found the evening of March 28 have symptoms similar to the three children after the death in the early morning on the 29th from the hospital to the Medical Section of the report, agreed with the president Gradually reported after 6 am on the 29th, she reports directly to the city's CDC. The following days, the city health departments to study the deaths. March 31, the city reported to the Ministry of Health goalkeeper condition Anhui Provincial Health Office. 
He said that under the "Law on Prevention and Treatment of infectious diseases", infectious disease outbreaks, the epidemic, the health administrative departments in charge of the State Council announced to the public infectious diseases, and could authorize the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, government health administrative departments to the public, Fuyang City 1 Government simply does not have the right to information on the epidemic released. 
he said.