China’s Deadly Viral Outbreak Again Highlights Public Health Concerns

China has moved into full damage control mode, ordering a nationwide alert and mobilization of national health assets, after the outbreak of a deadly virus known as Enterovirus 71 (EV71) has claimed the lives of nearly two dozen children and infected thousands more.

The virus, which has primarily infected young children, often inflicts mouth sores, a rash with blisters, and a debilitating fever. While most of those infected with the virus have recovered within a week or so, some have died and the virus seems to be spreading from the east-central provinces Hubei and Anhui to the south.

China’s Xinhua news agency cites a provincial health department spokesman as saying that “so far, 4,529 children have been sickened by the virus…in 15 cities in Anhui. The cities with the most cases were Fuyang, Huainan, Bozhou, Bengbu and Hefei.

A SARs-like cover-up all over again?

A reminder of the SARs pneumonia outbreak debacle in 2003 where officials were found to have under reported those infected as well as casualty numbers, China’s government has ordered the Health Ministry to issue a nationwide alert and take immediate actions to contain and quash the outbreak.

However, there is evidence that local health officials may have delayed their response to the EV71 outbreak which began in March. Such negligence has drawn rebuke from some national Chinese media outlets.

The NYTimes reports…

The Chinese media have not been shy about criticizing local officials who suppress information about infectious diseases and other kinds of bad news. In mid-April, several media outlets noted, authorities in Fuyang who were confronted by reporters denied that there was a problem. Two weeks later, after more than a dozen children had died, they were forced to acknowledge the outbreak.

In an editorial headlined “Tragic Costs of Delay,” China Daily, the official English-language newspaper, cited the SARS epidemic and the powdered milk scandal and chastised government for its sluggish response to the most recent health crisis. “The memory of the last tragedy only adds to the bitterness of the new one,” it said.

The BBC reports denial of a cover-up by Chinese officials…

The Chinese health ministry has rejected charges that it has failed to handle the situation properly, arguing that medical teams had been trying to work out what the illness was.

Either way, this current outbreak, and lag in reporting by the government, highlights China’s fragile public health system. The lack of transparency and accountability on the part of the Chinese government has made the possibility of such public health failures in reporting diseases a continuing threat.

A dash by China’s public health officials to the Summer Games

China must now scramble to get this outbreak under control, particularly as the nation prepares for the arrival of athletes from around the world for this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing. Xinhua reports that on Saturday, China’s Ministry of Health issued a circular “that ordered local bureaus to do their best to prevent and control infectious diseases, since mass outbreaks could easily occur at this time of year.”

The circular goes on to state “since spring, epidemics of HFMD [EV71), hepatitis A and measles have broken out in several counties…All local health bureaus should give top priority to the prevention and control of infectious diseases especially in rural areas so as to protect public health ahead of the Olympics.”

Such an outbreak of any of the aforementioned viruses would be devastating to the Beijing Olympic Games, which have come under intense international protest following the crackdown on Tibetan activist in early April and China’s continued investment and arms sales to Sudan’s government, which has been held responsible for the deaths of thousands in Darfur.

Beijing Olympics Packing List: Tamiflu?

This week a leading World Health Organization official in Italy, who deals with health-related tourism guidance for travelers, reportedly recommended that visitors attending the Summer Olympics in Beijing should bring the antiviral avian flu drug Tamiflu with them in the event they are exposed to the virus, also known as H5N1.

While the WHO denies the report by Italian news agency, ANSA, three people have been infected with the disease thus far in 2008, and more than 30 cases have been reported since 2003 with 20 of them fatal.

Explore posts in the same categories: Asia, China, sinophile

Tags: China, sinophile, EV-71, enterovirus 71, Hubei, Anhui, public health, SARs, H5N1, bird flu, tamiflu, WHO, ANSA

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