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Fuyang Health Department: We Did Not Conceal The EpidemicSo far 1520 cases of infection in Fuyang*; Jiangsu** requires kindergartens and elementary schools to carry out morning physical examinations Cases of EV71 reach 1520 04/30/08 -- Yesterday afternoon at 2:00, the Fuyang Newsroom held their second press conference about the children infected with enterovirus type 71 (EV71)***. Leaders and experts from the Fuyang Health Department and the Fuyang People's Hospital made an announcement concerning the city's control and prevention efforts against the enterovirus epidemic. "As of 11:00 on the 28th, the city has reported 1520 pediatric cases of enterovirus type 71." The Fuyang Health Department spokesman and Deputy Director Yan Wei announced that the city's most recent statistics on hospitalizations show that from 11:00 on the 27 to 11:00 on the 28th, there were 321 reports of enterovirus--37 more cases than the day before. Of these, 216 cases were seen in clinic and 105 were hospitalized; 34 patients were released from the hospital. Yan Wei said that as of 11:00 on the 28th, 20 of the reported 1520 children with EV71 had died, 585 had recovered, and 412 children were still hospitalized. Twenty-six of the hospitalized cases were listed as 'severe', one less than the previous day. Moreover, the epidemic has not been restricted to the rural areas. "Of the 20 children that have died, two cases were from the city, while the other 18 were from the countryside." Was the epidemic concealed? On April 25th, there was a public announcement of the EV71 epidemic in Fuyang. There have been twenty fatalities. This public health incident has elicited strong skepticism: why did it take a month to confirm the epidemic? Why was 'respiratory infection' the 'lie' used to combat the rumors? Why were the latest developments not publicly announced? Faced with these 'why' questions, the Fuyang Health Department official responded to each one with an explanation yesterday afternoon, his language betraying helplessness and difficulty. April 15th Refuting the Rumors of 'Botching it Up' The most denounced aspect of this incident has been the efforts by medical experts to refute rumors in the Fuyang Daily newspaper. Many city residents have raised this question: "Is it not a lie to clearly diagnose enterovirus EV71, but to describe it as a respiratory infection?" Reporters looking at a copy of the April 15th Fuyang Daily found two unsigned articles on the bottom half of the second page entitled, "Informed Persons Answer Questions from Reporters Concerning Worsening Recent Respiratory Infections in Children" and "Pediatric Experts from Fuyang Hospital Answer Reporter's Questions About Childhood Respiratory Disease". Although the content from these two explanations for reporters was mostly general knowledge about respiratory disease, it also revealed the grim reality that "already a few patients have died from disease." The medical experts answering the reporter's questions affirmed that the sick children had "respiratory infections" and that "disease control experts had concluded through epidemiological study that the disease was not infectious and that laboratory tests had ruled out the possibility of SARS." But parents were only comforted for a short time. On April 25th, the Fuyang Daily announced the newest diagnostic conclusions: enterovirus EV71 infection. Mr. Wang, a resident of Fuyang, thinks that the two articles on April 15th were 'lies'. "Not naming the cause of the disease because it is not yet known is one thing, but lying about it is another." Facing this skepticism, the Fuyang Health Department Deputy Director Yan Wei said that the city had released the statement saying that the sick children had a respiratory infection that was not infectious because local medical experts were not familiar with the disease and that the surveys of clinical information had shown the ill patients had not been infecting their family members. Moreover, the patients that had died had not been in contact with one another, so they had not made the connection between the illness and enterovirus infection. This explanation has been difficult for the general public to accept. A worker for the Fuyang Health System privately told a reporter: "It was all the result of people's desperation to find a doctor. The whole city was rife with rumors that forced the Health Department into taking action." He thinks it was not lying, but rather misdiagnosis by a minority of experts. "No problem with delayed or deceptive announcements" "Except for the Xinhua News Agency**** and a minority of other media outlets, nearly every other media organization is asking whether we delayed announcing the epidemic," a major Fuyang city official told a Kuaibao reporter yesterday afternoon. "This is not fair." This official said that as soon as the epidemic emerged, the city strictly followed the national rules set down by the Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Disease and the Regulations on Preparedness for and Response to Emergent Public Health Hazards by immediately reporting it up the chain of command. During that entire process, Fuyang did not exhibit any problems with delayed or deceptive reporting. The health department officials of our city do not have the authority to publicize the epidemic." Fuyang Health Department Deputy Director Yan Wei said. According to the national regulations, only the provincial level health departments can take such action. [Full text] *Fuyang is a city in Anhui province in China. **Jiangsu is a contiguous province to the north and west of Anhui. ***Enterovirus type 71 is a Picornavirus related to the Polioviruses and Coxsackie viruses. ****The Xinhua News Agency is the official media outlet of the People's Republic of China. It is roughly akin to a nationalized version of the Associated Press or Reuters. --Translated by D. Owen Young ( categories: Chinese | Xiandai Kuaibao (The Modern Bulletin) )
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