http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s8464...htm
Qantas flight attendant awaits SARS test result
A Qantas flight attendant remains in isolation in a Sydney hospital, awaiting test results for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
NSW Health''s director of communicable diseases Dr McAnulty says this is mostly a precaution and any passengers on her last flight from Singapore to Sydney late last month faced only a minimum risk.
He says the 37 other suspected SARS cases in New South Wales have all been cleared.
"I guess, bear in mind too, out of the millions and millions of people who live in affected areas like China, we''re still only seeing in the order of 1000 or so cases in those affected areas, so the risk overall is probably not huge," Dr McAnulty said.
"But it is a nasty disease if you get it, so we''re being cautious and treating cases with suspicion until we can rule out SARS."
The Qantas flight attendant is in a stable condition in isolation at St Vincent''s Hospital, where she has undergone microbiology and pathology tests for the SARS virus.
A spokesman for the hospital says it will take around 24 hours for the test results to be processed.
He says authorities are taking all precautions, and for most Australians travelling briefly through SARS-affected areas, the risk of contracting the virus remains low.
"We''re watching the situation carefully," Dr McAnulty said.
"Brief visits and transits in airports, there''s probably quite a low risk.
"The risk probably increases the longer time you spend in affected areas.
"But for casual contact, particularly in transit areas, the risk is probably fairly low but transmission could occur and so we''re cautious in cases like this."
Qantas says it does not believe the woman, even if she is found to be suffering from SARS, was infectious during the flight.
Qantas boss Geoff Dixon says information from the World Health Organisation explains there is no proof of SARS being passed on by people who are not showing symptoms of the virus.
Mr Dixon says as a precaution the airline is contacting all passengers and crew who travelled on the flight.
He says the airline will reassure them they should have no health concerns as a result of the case.
The Flight Attendants Association safety officer Guy Maclean says thousands of his members have their fingers crossed for the woman concerned.
Mr Maclean says the association''s advice to other flight attendants is that the risk of contracting SARS on board an aircraft remains low.
"Primarily we have, since the beginning, not altered our essential message that the most prudent action that any person can take, and this is not just a cabin crew member but any person can take, is to practise very high levels of personal hygiene, that is, continuously wash your hands and don''t touch a mucous membrane ... that is, your eyes, ears or mouth," Mr Maclean said.
Vaccine unlikely
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) director Gro Harlem Brundtland has told ABC Radio''s Sunday Profile program that she does not believe a cure for SARS will be found any time soon.
"Based on the experience and earlier evidence, given that it''s a virus, we would be very lucky to find a cure within weeks or months," she said.
"It could take years and certainly a vaccine could also take that amount of time, if we are lucky."
Qantas flight attendant awaits SARS test result
A Qantas flight attendant remains in isolation in a Sydney hospital, awaiting test results for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
NSW Health''s director of communicable diseases Dr McAnulty says this is mostly a precaution and any passengers on her last flight from Singapore to Sydney late last month faced only a minimum risk.
He says the 37 other suspected SARS cases in New South Wales have all been cleared.
"I guess, bear in mind too, out of the millions and millions of people who live in affected areas like China, we''re still only seeing in the order of 1000 or so cases in those affected areas, so the risk overall is probably not huge," Dr McAnulty said.
"But it is a nasty disease if you get it, so we''re being cautious and treating cases with suspicion until we can rule out SARS."
The Qantas flight attendant is in a stable condition in isolation at St Vincent''s Hospital, where she has undergone microbiology and pathology tests for the SARS virus.
A spokesman for the hospital says it will take around 24 hours for the test results to be processed.
He says authorities are taking all precautions, and for most Australians travelling briefly through SARS-affected areas, the risk of contracting the virus remains low.
"We''re watching the situation carefully," Dr McAnulty said.
"Brief visits and transits in airports, there''s probably quite a low risk.
"The risk probably increases the longer time you spend in affected areas.
"But for casual contact, particularly in transit areas, the risk is probably fairly low but transmission could occur and so we''re cautious in cases like this."
Qantas says it does not believe the woman, even if she is found to be suffering from SARS, was infectious during the flight.
Qantas boss Geoff Dixon says information from the World Health Organisation explains there is no proof of SARS being passed on by people who are not showing symptoms of the virus.
Mr Dixon says as a precaution the airline is contacting all passengers and crew who travelled on the flight.
He says the airline will reassure them they should have no health concerns as a result of the case.
The Flight Attendants Association safety officer Guy Maclean says thousands of his members have their fingers crossed for the woman concerned.
Mr Maclean says the association''s advice to other flight attendants is that the risk of contracting SARS on board an aircraft remains low.
"Primarily we have, since the beginning, not altered our essential message that the most prudent action that any person can take, and this is not just a cabin crew member but any person can take, is to practise very high levels of personal hygiene, that is, continuously wash your hands and don''t touch a mucous membrane ... that is, your eyes, ears or mouth," Mr Maclean said.
Vaccine unlikely
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) director Gro Harlem Brundtland has told ABC Radio''s Sunday Profile program that she does not believe a cure for SARS will be found any time soon.
"Based on the experience and earlier evidence, given that it''s a virus, we would be very lucky to find a cure within weeks or months," she said.
"It could take years and certainly a vaccine could also take that amount of time, if we are lucky."
