| China Watch - Epidemic killing children |
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First, let me say that this is a terrible thing and we should keep the Chinese people lifted up in prayer over this. For anybody to have a child get sick and die is a tragic thing. God, please heal their land.
What I thought was peculiar about this is the response by the Chinese government. I think we would all feel better if they had said...this outbreak is a real concern and we are taking aggressive measures to make sure it doesn't impact the Olympics. Instead, they simply state that it isn't a problem because it only infects small children.
I am concerned simply because I plan on taking my family to Seoul in October. An epidemic like this can spread rapidly.
Click here for the full article.
| WHO: deadly child virus in China not a threat to Olympics |  |
 | May 4 05:38 PM US/Eastern
By HENRY SANDERSON
Associated Press Writer |
BEIJING (AP) - A highly infectious virus that has killed 24 children in China is unlikely to be a threat to the Beijing Olympics, although it is too early to tell whether it has peaked, the World Health Organization said Sunday. The death toll from the virus, which mostly sickens children, rose to 24 Sunday as two more deaths were reported in a new province amid heightened efforts by China's Health Ministry to contain it. The outbreak of enterovirus 71—which causes a severe type of hand, foot and mouth disease—is another headache for the Communist government as it prepares for the Olympic Games, already tarnished by unrest among Tibetans in western China and an international torch relay disrupted by protests. "I don't see it at all as a threat to the Olympics or any upcoming events ... This is a disease mainly affecting young children," WHO China representative Hans Troedsson told a news conference. Troedsson said the virus normally peaks in June and July, meaning there could still be an increase in infections as the weather warms. The disease thrives in hot climates, and Asia has seen increased occurrences, including in Singapore, Vietnam and Taiwan, he said. China's Health Ministry issued a nationwide alert over the weekend after the virus, also known as EV-71, infected more than 4,500 children in central Anhui province resulting in 22 deaths. The two most recent reported deaths occurred about 1,000 miles to the south in Guangdong province. |
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