WHO says Vietnam successfully contains SARS
GENEVA - The World Health Organization (WHO)said on Monday that Vietnam has successfully contained the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
"Vietnam has stopped the outbreak within its borders," said Dr.Pascale Brudon, WHO Representative to Vietnam, at a news conference. "WHO would like to congratulate Vietnam on being the first country in the world to contain SARS."
WHO said its conclusion came after careful monitoring of the country's current situation, which found no new reported cases of SARS since April 8, and no cases of it spreading to other countries.
The organization's announcement is extraordinarily significant for Vietnam since it was one of four countries initially identified by the WHO on March 15 as having a local transmission of SARS, and a total of 63 SARS cases and five deaths prior to April 8 had been reported in the country.
The WHO experts recommended that the absence of any new cases for a continuous 20-day (as of April 28) period was an encouragingindication which showed that appropriate detective and protective measures were able to contain the outbreak of SARS and prevent it from further spreading.
"Vietnam has effectively worked in partnership with other governments, WHO and WHO's partners to stop its outbreak of SARS,"said David Heymann, Executive Director of WHO's Communicable Diseases Cluster.
"We are pleased that other countries in the region with local transmission of SARS are also following appropriate detection and protection measures, and cooperating with each other to do so," headded.
The organization's experts also warned that Vietnam should still maintain a high level of alert since even a single new case of SARS could spark another outbreak.
Xinhuanet - April 28, 2003.
Vietnam first country to contain SARS: How did they do it?
HANOI - As more sophisticated places like Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada continue to log daily deaths from the SARS virus, one country claims victory in stopping its spread — poor, communist Vietnam.
How did it happen ? With an open government, fast quarantines and a bit of luck, health authorities say.
''I think we can learn quite a lot of things from Vietnam,'' said Pascale Brudon, a representative from the World Health Organization working in Vietnam.
The tiny nation with limited medical resources has not had a case since April 8. Those 20 SARS-free days — twice the disease's incubation period — resulted in WHO declaring Monday that Vietnam is the first country to contain the highly contagious respiratory disease.
Brudon pointed to several factors. The outbreak here began in late February when a Chinese-American businessman got sick in Hanoi after arriving from Hong Kong. The businessman, Johnny Chen of Shanghai, went to the Hanoi French Hospital, the only international hospital and the best-equipped facility.
There, he exposed dozens of hospital workers to what would eventually be known as severe acute respiratory syndrome. After doctors there suspected something strange about his illness, they called in Dr. Carlo Urbani, a Hanoi-based communicable disease expert for WHO.
Urbani soon realized the small hospital had a dangerous, potentially global disease on its hands. He and Brudon convened an urgent meeting with high-ranking Vietnamese officials and got them wholeheartedly on board. Eventually, Urbani would become infected himself and die from the disease in Bangkok.
''We pushed very strongly for the government to move and to move quickly,'' Brudon said. ''If it had been a case in a place much more remote, it may have been much more difficult.''
Unlike the Chinese, officials in Vietnam were open and quick to react. They welcomed a WHO team of international experts and began an aggressive campaign to tell the public how to avoid SARS and what to do if symptoms showed up.
China has been widely criticized for first keeping the disease secret, then for foot-dragging with WHO disease investigators.
Vietnam also closed the French hospital on March 11, quarantining everyone inside, which Brudon said played a huge role in slowing the disease's spread.
''It's not rocket science,'' said Aileen Plant, head of WHO's international team here. ''It's just typical contagious disease activities. You find out who's infected early and stop them from infecting anybody else.''
Some friends and loved ones of patients in the French hospital later came down with SARS and were admitted to the other hospital, Bach Mai — so crowded and understaffed that patients are sometimes stacked two to a bed and family members provide the nursing care.
Still, none of those patients were as sick or as contagious as the first exposed.
Another bit of luck is that Chen, the first SARS patient, was Vietnam's only ''index case.'' All of the country's 63 cases, including its five deaths, can be linked back to him.
Other places, such as Hong Kong, have had several patients like Chen, who spread the disease rapidly to others, but most were not identified as quickly as Chen's case.
Hong Kong, which began its outbreak at the same time as Vietnam, has had more than 130 deaths. Canada and Singapore also have each logged more than 20.
By Monday, the number of new cases was declining in those places, leading WHO to say it appears the worst is over everywhere but mainland China.
Meanwhile, in Vietnam, only five SARS patients remain at Bach Mai, and they are expected to be released later this week. The French hospital is being decontaminated and is expected to reopen soon.
But that doesn't mean a return to normal. Still vigilant, Vietnam is closely monitoring its vast northern border with China. It is also recommending health certificates from travelers from SARS-infected areas and requiring that health forms be filled out before visitors enter the country.
''We have been able to contain this outbreak,'' Brudon said, ''but this disease is still very serious in the world and in many countries around Vietnam.''
The Associated Press - April 28, 2003.
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