World governments are much better prepared to deal with swine flu than they were with SARS because they already know key things about the new virus, a leading virologist in Hong Kong said. But Yuen Kwok-yung, a microbiology professor at the University of Hong Kong, said experts needed more information to minimise the impact of the H1N1 swine flu virus.
SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, killed more than 800 people around the world in 2003. It first appeared in southern China in November 2002 and began spreading in Hong Kong in February 2003. It was another month before scientists identified it. Even then, very little was known about SARS, including how it spread, which made it very risky.
"The biggest advantage is we know (this one) is an influenza virus, a triple reassortment (of swine, avian and human DNA), we know how it behaves, like it is transmitted by droplets and direct contact," Yuen told a small group of reporters. "If we know more, the better and more helpful it will be," added Yuen, who was a key player in fighting SARS and also birdflu in Hong Kong in recent years.
Yuen said epidemiologists believed the swine flu virus had been circulating for about a month in Mexico, where it has killed 149 people. Still, scientists had identified it as a flu virus far quicker than with SARS.
"During SARS, we thought it was airborne and healthcare workers wore a lot of protective gear which turned out later to be more dangerous, as they ran the risk of getting their hands contaminated while removing the gear," Yuen said.
The World Health Organisation has raised its alert level to phase 4, indicating a significantly increased risk of pandemic. Outside of Mexico, the virus has not killed anyone. But more than 50 infected people have been found in the United States and six in Canada. There have also been confirmed cases in Spain, Scotland, New Zealand and Israel.
Asked why no one has died outside of Mexico, Yuen offered a couple of possible explanations:
-- Deficiencies in the healthcare system in Mexico and widespread antibiotic resistance that is typical of developing countries, resulting in victims dying of secondary infections;
-- The virus - which like all microbes will try to survive as long as possible - may be adapting to its human hosts and getting more benign as it passes from person to person.
But Yuen said no one knows for sure if the virus would get more virulent or less. He said countries that were still not affected needed to delay the onset of the disease for as long as possible, which would give them time to procure drugs and antibiotics.