Date: April 2003

Of SARS and AIDS

There are now four reported cases of SARS in the Philippines of which three were contracted overseas but slipped through the initial security screening at the airports. To put the current pandemic in perspective however an international agency has said that 720 of 9,400 Filipinos infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) had already died from the disease. Yet, the Philippines probably has the least cases of AIDS in East Asia (on a per capita basis) and was SARS free until a 46-year-old nursing assistant from Canada died of pneumonia on April 14.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that SARS is already present in the country. The declaration was deemed very significant since it would make more difficult the task of attracting tourists and investors who have been shying away from SARS infected countries like China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

It might be too late, but local health officials are now taking drastic measures to contain the disease by isolating hundreds of people suspected of having prolonged contact with the first suspected SARS victim.

Around 50 people in Alcala, Pangasinan, the hometown of nursing assistant Adela Catalon have been placed in isolation. Over 600 others who had social contacts with the victim are being investigated to determine whether they have developed SARS symptoms. April 28 is the end of the incubation period being eyed by WHO experts.

While not yet confirmed as SARS cases, it has been reported that a 39-year-old female radio technician who conducted a chest X-ray on Catalon at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila had subsequently developed a fever. Catalon's 74-year-old father also died last week, but health officials said he had colon cancer and that this contributed to his death. Three other close relatives of Catalon have been brought to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa City to determine if they have any symptoms of the virus.

Reports said that Catalon also attended a large wedding with 600 guests in Moncada town, Tarlac province (Central Luzon) on April 6 or 8 days before she died. Health officials, however, have assured the public that so far none of those who attended the wedding have showed SARS symptoms.

To officially determine whether Catalon and her father died of SARS, health officials have sent blood samples of the two for testing in a Japanese laboratory. Earlier, blood samples of a 64-year-old foreigner, the first suspected SARS victim in the country, had been sent to the same laboratory. The foreigner has completely recovered from the disease.

As this was being written, a Filipino household maid who arrived in the country on April 10 from Hong Kong died at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) in Tacloban City, Leyte on April 24. Her attending physician was also eventually confined at the hospital. Health officials were very careful in describing the reason of the death of the victim as SARS-related.

Meanwhile, local press commentators have expressed fears that the Philippines remains poorly prepared to deal with a major outbreak.

The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in its report stated that the country now has 9,400 cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The victims include 2,500 women and 10 children. It was reported that 720 Filipinos have already died from AIDS. While the Philippines has a lower volume of HIV cases than other Asian countries, the UN agency warned that the HIV virus may further spread in the Philippines if the government does not tighten its control mechanisms.

In comparison, Thailand reportedly has 670,000 HIV cases; Cambodia, 176,000; Vietnam, 130,000; Indonesia, 126,000; Malaysia, 42,000; Singapore, 3,400; and Laos, 1,400. The report added that China and India, the world's most populated countries, have a combined 5 million HIV cases.

Click Here to View Complete Listing of Special Reports