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Query: UMLS:C1175175 (SARS)
 19,188 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The occurrence of SARS in March 2003 has resulted in an increased interest, worldwide in emerging infectious diseases. The SARS experience provided us a lesson on the importance of promoting hygienic practices among individuals and different working sectors. In Hong Kong, a voluntary organization called the UNITE proposed a Hygiene Charter which aimed at taking hygiene to new levels. This action has been supported by individuals and different sectors including the Personal and Family, Management, Buildings, Catering, Education, Finance and Commercial, Industrial, Medical and Health, Public Transportation, Social Welfare, Sports and Culture and Tourism. As promotion and maintenance of environmental health requires input from different sectors, the signing of the Hygiene Charter provides an opportunity for individuals and the public to show their pledge and commitment to good hygiene practices. As a result, with environment improvement and good infectious disease control measures, prevention of epidemics of infectious diseases is deemed to be possible.
Asia Pac J Public Health 2004
PMID:Significance of the Hygiene Charter towards different sectors in Hong Kong. 1582 4

Globalisation is present whether recognised in SARS, global terrorism, finance or youth music. With the growth of the health promoting school movement in this context and the increased numbers of countries and schools involved, eight themes are proposed as critical to how the Health Promotion School move forward. They are concerned with: the diverse origins and alliances of forces in the movement; holistic and ecological approach; its status as a global movement; the tension between and empowerment or compliances model; evidence-based and values-based approches; the radical vision; social capital and social inclusion; and sustainability. Reaching the level of acceptance the Health Promotion School has acheived may lead to settling into comfortable official recognition--and assured funding--and losing its militancy. Can the Health Promotion School challenge health inequalities on a national and international scale and can it be a force for social inclusion?
Asia Pac J Public Health 2004
PMID:The health promoting school and social justice in a global environment. 1582 10

The aim of this study is to explore the impact of the 2003 SARS outbreak on Chinese students living in Japan. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire. The participants were recruited at multiple locations at the University of Tokyo, Japan. The results showed approximately 60% (96/161) of the respondents felt an impact of SARS on college life; they had experienced SARS-related fear, worry, depression as well as social discrimination and had taken SARS prevention measures for daily protection in Japan during the epidemic. The magnitude of the impact was associated with socio-demographic factors, including their age, specialty, area of previous residence in China and length of stay in Japan. The findings suggest that the SARS outbreak had a psychosocial impact on the Chinese students living in Japan, even though none of them had SARS. Social support tailored for these foreign students should be provided during such a disease outbreak.
Asia Pac J Public Health 2005
PMID:Exploratory study on psychosocial impact of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak on Chinese students living in Japan. 1642 57

Singapore experienced the SARS outbreak in 2003. The study aimed to describe the experience and behaviour of family physicians and the use of personal protection equipment (PPE) in their encounters with SARS patients. 8 such participants were interviewed and the content was analysed using qualitative research method. They highlighted the difficulties in procuring PPE due to severe shortage, the discomfort and inconvenience associated with its use. Despite the increasing operating cost, declining patient attendance and high price of the PPE, they persist in using PPE and change their behaviour in order to reduce the perceived threat to their lives. It fits into the Becker Health Belief Model, which explains that behaviour change depends on the balance of perceived vulnerability, severity, effectiveness, and barriers. The vulnerability and severity of SARS to healthcare workers were verified by the hospital experience. Perceived effectiveness of PPE amongst the family physicians outweighed the barriers of shortage, cost and discomfort of the PPE.
Asia Pac J Public Health 2006
PMID:Family physicians' experiences, behaviour, and use of personal protection equipment during the SARS outbreak in Singapore: do they fit the Becker Health Belief Model? 1715 82

This paper examines the problems of coordination between and within six jurisdictional players, namely the Hong Kong SAR Government, the Guangdong Province, the Central Authority (PRC), the Taiwanese Government, the Taipei Government and the World Health Organization during the SARS episode from November 2002 until August 2003. We found that the diverging political interests and entrenched administrative practices accounted for the poor coordination between and within these players. The obsession with "political correctness" has severely hampered "rational" decision making among the jurisdictional players. The highly fragmented and compartmentalised intra-jurisdictional public health system means that marshalling resources from health and non-health sectors is difficult.
Asia Pac J Public Health 2007
PMID:Politics and the management of public health disasters: reflections on the SARS epidemic in greater China. 1827 22

There have been three influenza pandemics since the 1900s, of which the 1919-1919 flu pandemic had the highest mortality rates. The influenza virus infects both humans and birds, and mutates using two mechanisms: antigenic drift and antigenic shift. Currently, the H5N1 avian flu virus is limited to outbreaks among poultry and persons in direct contact to infected poultry, but the mortality rate among infected humans is high. Avian influenza (AI) is endemic in Asia as a result of unregulated poultry rearing in rural areas. Such birds often live in close proximity to humans and this increases the chance of genetic re-assortment between avian and human influenza viruses which may produce a mutant strain that is easily transmitted between humans. Once this happens, a global pandemic is likely. Unlike SARS, a person with influenza infection is contagious before the onset of case-defining symptoms which limits the effectiveness of case isolation as a control strategy. Researchers have shown that carefully orchestrated of public health measures could potentially limit the spread of an AI pandemic if implemented soon after the first cases appear. To successfully contain and control an AI pandemic, both national and global strategies are needed. National strategies include source surveillance and control, adequate stockpiles of anti-viral agents, timely production of flu vaccines and healthcare system readiness. Global strategies such as early integrated response, curbing the disease outbreak at source, utilization of global resources, continuing research and open communication are also critical.
Asia Pac Fam Med 2008 Nov 13
PMID:Avian Influenza: a global threat needing a global solution. 1901 38

Diseases transmitted from animals have assumed substantial public health importance. Avian influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome, and Nipah virus infection are a few examples of growing number of diseases that humans can contract from animals. These diseases can cause huge economic losses in addition to mortality and morbidity. In developing countries of Asia, there is a continuous and close contact between animals and humans, especially in rural settings. The prevailing sociocultural practices and weak public health infrastructure further enhances the vulnerability of Asia as the epicenter of outbreaks due to zoonotic infections. There is a clear need of greater awareness and application of a multisectoral and multidisciplinary approach to prevent and control zoonotic infections.
Asia Pac J Public Health 2010 Oct
PMID:Review paper: the challenge of emerging zoonoses in Asia pacific. 2046 53

Recent policy debates provide mounting evidence that global governance of epidemics in Asia is evolving with the rise of new actors, agendas, and programs to address the transnational nature of public health emergencies. However, there have been relatively few studies that address the question of why certain public health approaches are preferred. Drawing on the case studies of severe acute respiratory syndrome and H5N1 avian influenza, this article sets out to answer 2 questions about global governance of epidemics in Asia: What set of ideas characterizes the form of global governance of epidemics in Asia? Why does it prevail while other alternatives fall by the wayside? The central argument in this article is that the global public health agenda and action by policy communities are not only shaped by empirical realities of public health but are also the result of the contending sets of interests and concerns.
Asia Pac J Public Health 2010 Jul
PMID:Ideas, institutions, and interests in the global governance of epidemics in Asia. 2056 44

On March 12, 2003, the World Health Organization issued a global health alert stating that a new, unrecognizable, flulike disease may spread to health care workers (HCWs). We now know this illness as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). By August 2003, there were 8422 SARS cases and 916 deaths reported from 29 countries. SARS galvanized the world to the threat of emerging infectious diseases and provided a dress rehearsal for subsequent challenges such as H5N1 and H1N1 influenza. Among the insights gained were the following: SARS reminded us that health care work can be hazardous; the effects of SARS extended beyond the infection; general principles for prevention and control were effective against SARS; and SARS posed both a public health and an occupational health threat. Given these perspectives gained, we should be better prepared when faced with similar scenarios in the future.
Asia Pac J Public Health 2010 Jul
PMID:Lessons from the past: perspectives on severe acute respiratory syndrome. 2056 45

A revised set of International Health Regulations came into force in June 2007. A month earlier, The Lancet had noted the importance of filling the remaining gaps in the global health system. One of these gaps was the exclusion of Taiwan from the structures of the World Health Organization (WHO), denied a presence at the World Health Assembly and able to communicate with the WHO only through a complex and time-consuming bureaucratic process. This situation was becoming increasingly indefensible in the face of clear difficulties in transmitting information about epidemic diseases, such as the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the growing threat of avian influenza since 2004. This is at last being addressed following a landmark decision to admit Taiwan to observer status at the World Health Assembly in May 2009. These developments will be addressed in this article.
Asia Pac J Public Health 2011 Sep
PMID:Closing the international health gaps: Taiwan comes in from the cold. 2068 62


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