SARS concern grows but state offers reassurances

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer

The number of Hawai'i residents canceling trips to Asia is climbing and the state Health Department is fielding an increasing number of phone calls from people worried about the risk of exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

California residents Kevin Mah and wife, Diane, use protective masks as a precautionary measure on their flight home from Hong Kong. Associated Press

The five involved women were mildly ill and have recovered, with no sign of further transmission of their ailments. Effler also said officials still believe that only close contact with someone infected will spread the disease.

In its latest assessment, the World Health Organization reports more than 1,800 cases worldwide since November.

There have been no deaths in the United States. Effler said that in only one instance nationwide, out of 72 suspected U.S. cases, was a patient placed on a respirator.

But news developments related to SARS continue to keep the international spotlight on what has been widely described as a mystery illness.

Yesterday, an American Airlines flight from Tokyo was detained on the airport tarmac in San Jose, Calif., after five people on board complained of symptoms similar to those ascribed to SARS. Hours later, officials reported that all five had been cleared, but the incident showed the level of fear associated with the ailment.

Health officials also say the SARS germ, not yet firmly identified, appears to spread mostly via droplets spewed by coughing or sneezing. But it's possible it might also be spread by contact with surfaces like doorknobs that other people touch.

The disease causes a fever, sometimes with chills, headache and body aches, and can lead to a cough and shortness of breath.

Effler said it's wise for people who have visited Asia to monitor any signs of fever and respiratory illness, but he said anyone who hasn't traveled to Asia — or been in close contact with someone who has — has "little reason to worry."

"We're starting to see an over-reaction on the part of the public," Effler said.

Karen Hunter, a spokeswoman with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said the federal agency has not concluded that the disease has been transmitted through air travel. Last week, Hong Kong authorities said some tourists on a Air China flight caught the disease after flying with another passenger with SARS.

Hunter said pilots radio ahead if people are ill on their flights. She said all nonstop flights as well as connecting flights from mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Hanoi are being met by officials from the U.S. Public Health Service, an agency that the CDC oversees.

Honolulu is one of eight U.S. airports with quarantine officials stationed year-round. "They actually go on the planes and assess the passengers," Hunter said.

Hawai'i does not have any nonstop flights from the areas most affected, but there are 14 daily flights from Japan and one from South Korea, state airports director Davis Yogi said.

Effler said he understands concerns about visitors from Asia arriving in the state every day. But he said the CDC has arranged to get reports on people who are ill while in-flight and to follow up with them or anyone aboard.

The disease appears to have an incubation period of two to seven days. The criteria defining an illness as suspect include fever higher than 100.4 degrees; one or more respiratory symptoms such as coughing, shortness of breath and difficulty in breathing; and either close contact with a person diagnosed with SARS or recent travel to areas with documented SARS transmission.

Regency Tours and Travel, which relies on Asia travel for at least 60 percent of its business, has been hit hard by cancellations because of the illness, company president Savio Pang said.

He said the cancellations are "too many to count."

"It seems like right now this disease is causing us more problems than the war," Pang said.

According to Pang, many people canceled the week after the first alert about the disease, but then travel planning later stabilized. The cancellations started again after Friday's extension of the defining characteristics of the disease to include anyone who has visited China, he said.

"It's tough," as he sat watching the news from Hong Kong showing an apartment complex under quarantine because of the number of cases there.

Pang said concern about SARS is also affecting people from Asia wanting to fly here. He spoke with people planning a trip from Indonesia who originally scheduled a stopover in Singapore. "Now, they want to change their flight to skip over Singapore and go to Manila," he said.

Richard Lum, manager of World Wide Tours and Travel, said his company canceled a tour to China that was to leave on May 3.

Lum said many of his older customers are unlikely to want to go, with so much uncertainty about how the disease is spread and no known cure

Danny Ching, president of Non Stop Travel, said he has seen a drop in travel to the region.

"That's unfortunate, but I guess people are scared," he said

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429. The Associated Press contributed to this report.