07/05/03

Risk communication critical in SARS control

By: Nicky Lewis

We encourage you to republish this article online and in print, it’s free under our creative commons attribution license, but please follow some simple guidelines:

You have to credit our authors.
You have to credit SciDev.Net — where possible include our logo with a link back to the original article.
You can simply run the first few lines of the article and then add: “Read the full article on SciDev.Net” containing a link back to the original article.
If you want to also take images published in this story you will need to confirm with the original source if you're licensed to use them.
The easiest way to get the article on your site is to embed the code below.

For more information view our media page and republishing guidelines.

The full article is available here as HTML.

Press Ctrl-C to copy

<div class="article-wrap">
<div id="article-introduction">
<h1>Risk communication critical in SARS control</h1>
<h4>By: Nicky Lewis</h4>
</div>
<br />
<br />

<div id="article-body">
<p>Rigorous public health measures — including the communication of risk to the public — are crucial in efforts to control the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), according to the first major epidemiological study of the epidemic. <BR><BR>The study, which examines data from the first nine weeks of Hong Kong’s SARS epidemic, concludes that reducing the time between the onset of symptoms and quarantining in hospital is one of the key factors in limiting the spread of the disease. And it attributes the fall in the number of new SARS cases — below 20 per day by the end of April — to such public health interventions. <BR><BR>“The epidemic has demonstrated the need for communication of risk which will inform and warn the public, in a way that will improve personal protection, without inducing high levels of anxiety and fear, as an essential part of epidemic control,” the researchers write in <em>The Lancet.</em> <BR><BR>“A change in risk perception would potentially lead to an increase in early reporting of symptoms as well as improvements in hygiene and prevention of transmission,” they add. <BR><BR>The research team — comprising scientists from Imperial College, United Kingdom, the University of Hong Kong and the Department of Health in Hong Kong — also report that the fatality rate from SARS is considerably higher than previously thought. They estimate that rates are now 43 to 55 per cent for those aged over 60, and 7 to 13 per cent for those under 60. <BR><BR><a href="http://image.thelancet.com/extras/03art4453web.pdf" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/tracking/external/'+this.href);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Link to research paper in <em>The Lancet</em></A> <IMG alt="PDF document" src="http://c96265.r65.cf3.rackcdn.com/icon-pdf.gif" border=0> (requires free registration)</p>

</div>
<div class="quick-links-wrapper">
<h3>You might also like</h3>
[related-articles]
</div>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/news/risk-communication-critical-in-sars-control/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(e,t,n,r,i,s,o){e["GoogleAnalyticsObject"]=i;e[i]=e[i]||function(){(e[i].q=e[i].q||[]).push(arguments)},e[i].l=1*new Date;s=t.createElement(n),o=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];s.async=1;s.src=r;o.parentNode.insertBefore(s,o)})(window,document,"script","//www.google-analytics.com/ga.js","ga");var _gaq=_gaq||[];var _gaq=_gaq||[];_gaq.push(["_setAccount","UA-3223906-8"],["_trackEvent","article interaction","republished","https://www.scidev.net/global/news/risk-communication-critical-in-sars-control/",null,true])
</script>
</div>

Rigorous public health measures — including the communication of risk to the public — are crucial in efforts to control the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), according to the first major epidemiological study of the epidemic.

The study, which examines data from the first nine weeks of Hong Kong’s SARS epidemic, concludes that reducing the time between the onset of symptoms and quarantining in hospital is one of the key factors in limiting the spread of the disease. And it attributes the fall in the number of new SARS cases — below 20 per day by the end of April — to such public health interventions.

“The epidemic has demonstrated the need for communication of risk which will inform and warn the public, in a way that will improve personal protection, without inducing high levels of anxiety and fear, as an essential part of epidemic control,” the researchers write in The Lancet.

“A change in risk perception would potentially lead to an increase in early reporting of symptoms as well as improvements in hygiene and prevention of transmission,” they add.

The research team — comprising scientists from Imperial College, United Kingdom, the University of Hong Kong and the Department of Health in Hong Kong — also report that the fatality rate from SARS is considerably higher than previously thought. They estimate that rates are now 43 to 55 per cent for those aged over 60, and 7 to 13 per cent for those under 60.

Link to research paper in The Lancet (requires free registration)