Ukraine isn’ t prepared for atypical pneumonia
Meanwhile, Monday before last the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine released a reassuring statement. Citing Chinese Health Minister Zhang Wenkang, the diplomats assured journalists that “the virus is under control and the situation has stabilized. It is safe to live, work, and travel in China. The Health Ministry is fully cooperating with the World Health Organization (WHO), whose experts visited the country and rated highly the preventive measures that have been taken.”
The other day, however, worrying news came from Russia. The Friday before last news agencies reported that two suspected SARS patients, natives of Novosibirsk and Vladivostok, had been hospitalized. Although the suspicions were officially denied by Russia’s chief public health physician Gennady Onishchenko, the tension lingered in Russia and Ukraine. According to Ukraine’s Health Ministry officials, the ministry follows all WHO instructions. Passengers coming on flights from Southeast Asia are given increased attention. They have to fill in a special questionnaire and indicate whether they have suffered any recent symptoms such as fever, coughing, muscle or chest pains, headache, general weakness, loss of appetite, and rash. Flight crews have been instructed to radio the airport to ensure the immediate hospitalization of any suspected SARS patient onboard.
In Ukraine, however, certain problems arise in dealing with SARS. According to Arkady Frolov, chief epidemiologist of the Health Ministry, even in Kyiv there are no infectious diseases hospitals with enough isolation facilities. It is planned that in case of an outbreak, patients be isolated near Boryspil Airport. However, so far there are neither premises nor funds for the quarantine of, say, all the passengers should a suspected SARS patient be found on an incoming flight. Incidentally, these measures have been foreseen by the WHO, as well as the fact that medical personnel must wear special respiratory masks to prevent the droplet spread of the virus.
The Day turned to Valery Polishchuk, professor of the virology at the Faculty of Biology of the Kyiv Shevchenko University, for comment. In his view, it is quite probable that infection and mortality rates in China have been underreported. China has already suffered major economic losses, and the epidemic is only adding insult to injury. Also disconcerting is the fact that the WHO is so actively disputing the hypothesis that the atypical pneumonia virus is the product of a fusion of two viruses. It is common knowledge that it is much harder to develop an antigen against mutated viruses. According to Prof. Polishchuk, the only good news is the fact that the epidemic has nothing to do with biological terrorism. Otherwise, the death rate would have been much higher than the current 5%. The attacks would also have been targeted on a certain country. According to him, the appearance of the virus has been caused by a number of factors. On the one hand, virus mutation is provoked by the human interference with natural processes that upsets the balance of nature. Take, for example, increased radioactivity and contamination with carcinogens. On the other hand, outbreaks of viral diseases once considered eradicated have recurred throughout history. To illustrate, quite recently the medical world celebrated its victory over poliomyelitis. But after thirty years the virus has mutated and struck back. The influenza virus is of a different origin and this enables it to mutate year after year. Put simply, the cause of atypical pneumonia will not be known unless its causative agent is thoroughly analyzed.
Experts the world over have put forward scores of hypotheses, including one that SARS belongs to a group of microviruses (a group that also includes measles, mumps, and pneumonia viruses), and that atypical pneumonia is the product of mutation of the infamous Chinese flu that swept through the world in the 1990s. However, despite the heightened attention accorded the problem, the prevailing belief is that a vaccine for SARS will not be discovered in the next few months. Serhiy Bobrovnyk, doctor of biology and fellow at the Institute of Biochemistry, believes that atypical pneumonia will most likely hit Ukraine. Migratory birds will contribute to the spread of the virus. There is little hope that they will heed any WHO warning. When asked about prevention for the disease, biologists and doctors alike say one can do hardly anything to prevent a respiratory disease for which there is no vaccine, except to increase physical resistance to viruses using vitamins and avoid places where many people are gathered.
