Just got a mass mail about the doctor in charge of the ward the outbreak was in hospital. I really have to saluate to him. From: "Justin Wu" Subject: Re: Fat Wu on air Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 11:09:23 +0800 Dear all, Hundreds of staff are working with me and they are all facing the same risk of infection. It is really sad that over last 2-week fight 8% of our staff have been infected despite droplet precaution, probably due to pitfalls like air leak on N95 mask, rubbing eyes/nose after touching the mask, etc. So you can imagine how contagious this virus is! The outbreak in Amoy Garden is not surprising to me because this is exactly what has happened in ward 8A. The only difference is that the number of infectious index cases now in Amoy Garden is 60 times of PWH's. We do believe this infection has wide spectrum of clinical presentation ranging from sorethroat and low grade fever to full blown ARDS/BOOP. We think the clinical presentation depends partly on the dose of inoculum. The ultimate rotection against this new virus is our immunity and invitably all of us will be infected eventually. The purpose of preventive measure is to minimize the dose of virus so as to avoid severe complication. Could you please forward these messages to all your friends and relatives and ask them to distribute further? 1. Always wear a well-fitted mask (N95 or 3 ply surgical) in escalator, bus, MTR, train, office, restaurant and shopping mall. Don't go to cinema. Push the button in the lift using your key to avoid any direct contact with your bare hand. If you can tolerate a latex glove, wear it. 2. Don't touch your mask, it traps a lot of droplets. 3. All the surfaces within a distance of 5 feet from a patient are highly infectious because of droplets. Wash your hands frequently. Don't rub your eyes, touch your nose or mouth before washing hands. 4. Clean the door handles, furnitures and floor with diluted (1 in 100) bleaching detergent. Dettol is NOT useful. Wash your clothes immediately after going home. 5. Patient is highly infectious 2-3 days (in contrast to what EK Yeoh said) even before developing illness. Treat those without wearing mask potentially infectious even if they look healthy. Take care buddy.