SARS - are we really safe?

Written by Lynne Featherstone and published in Hampstead & Highgate Express on Mon 28th Apr 2003

I went through Heathrow's portals last weekend without a face mask. I had struggled as to which was the lesser of two evils? To look like a complete prat as the only person walking through Heathrow Airport with an anti-infection mask over my face or risk catching Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome?

I am not overly neurotic about health issues - but the burgeoning numbers of SARS victims potentially winging their way across the world over the Easter holidays may give those of us trucking through airports during the holiday season a moment or two's pause for thought.

The Deputy Director of Public Health for London, Penny Bevan, was invited to come before the Health Committee of the Assembly (on which I sit) last week to make a statement as to the current London situation vis a vis SARS and to allow us to question her on behalf of London. She reassured us that all that needed to be done was being done. Britain was safe. London was safe. No need to worry!!!!!

The good news was that she was virtually sure it could only be spread by sneezing - and possibly coughing. Simply breathing in the same air with a SARS victim would not be enough to transmit it. Or more accurately - as only family members and health staff had apparently contracted the disease from victims thus far, it implied that you had to be close enough to be sneezed on in order to contract the illness. Whew!

The next bit of good news was that whilst there had been 5 cases in England (at time of writing 6) there had been no onward transmission! We all felt a lot better at this point - and whilst they hadn't got a cure or a vaccine, and it was a virus not an infection and it was not totally under control yet in Hong Kong and China - it was under control here!

The key piece of advice as given out by the Foreign Office to the nation was not to go to Hong Kong and China. But measures were being taken. People leaving the infected areas at the port of exit are being tested for SARS. All air passengers, for example, are having a temperature strip placed across their brow - and if fevered they are not allowed to leave. Great so far. We are also alright if someone's symptoms started in flight - because international laws governing air travel meant that the pilot can then notify ahead that a 'communicable' disease is on board the plane and arrangements made for isolation of patient on landing and monitoring of other passengers.

The real hazard would be if there were no symptoms before or during - but only developing anything up to ten days after landing. Then the hazard was people themselves. They must not go to their doctor's surgeries. They must not go their local hospital emergency rooms. They must call their GP.

And how were they to know this? People would have to find this out by looking on the Department of Health website or ring NHS Direct. And how were they to know this was where they needed to look? You guessed it! By looking on the Department of Health website or ringing NHS Direct.

Given that dissemination of information was absolutely key to stopping the spread of SARS early - did the Deputy Director of Public Health not think it might be a good idea to distribute leaflets on all flights informing passengers what to do if they were to contract symptoms after.

No - she didn't believe that there had been any discussion or thought about disseminating information in this way. It was not current government policy and one generally left the airlines and the commercial imperative to deal with these things.

Did she think it might be a good idea? Could she reassure us and London on this point? Yes - she now thought it might be an idea and she would now mention it to the Foreign Office and the Department of Health and see if information might be given out during flights.

So - that was my effort at stopping the spread of SARS. I doubt whether they will have got it together to get information out to air travellers by this weekend - but if you are on a plane and you do get a leaflet informing you what the symptoms are, what and who and how to contact someone - it will be thanks to the London Assembly.