Posted By Steve Ashton Please - can someone explain why there is so much panic / hysteria in the media and in the travel industry etc regarding SARS. Accepted that it is an unpleasant, infectious condition, but the infection rates are miniscule - a reported 80 plus something deaths in China over four months or so - compared to an estimated average million deaths per month from other causes. Why no panic over measles? it kills far more than sars.... Or Flu - that regularly kills several orders of magnitude more on a daily basis - and even more during an epidemic. Compared to many other conditions, SARS appears positively benign - low infection rates, low(ish) morbidity etc... Is there something going on that we haven't been told about? Can anyone provide any reason for the hysteria that would justify this condition receiving so much attention from the media and others? Why do so many people refer to the outbreak as an 'epidemic'?? I believed there were infection rates set by the WHO that have to be exceeded before the outbreak could be properly called an 'epidemic'?? Please, can someone out there explain the hysteria in terms of objective reality???

Posted By Geoff Burt Consider a school situation in the UK with pupils from Hong Kong. Currently some of these children are on holiday in Hong Kong. You have a child at this school - would you be happy for the school to allow these children straight back from Hong Kong into the school when they return after the holiday? What if a child dies as a result of the school not taking the proper precautions? What about the school liabilities if something goes wrong? I can understand fully where you are coming from, I initially felt the same way. But when you look at the possible outcomes it is better to be safe than sorry. Jay's right, it is perception. But as a parent I'm not prepared to take the risk. Geoff

Posted By Geoff Burt What's your point Lewis?

Posted By Lewis T Roberts Consider a work situation in the UK with other parents of children attending your child’s school actually considering a visit in their line of work to Hong Kong. Currently some parents have children in this parent’s school. You have a child at this school - would you be happy for the school to allow these parents straight back from Hong Kong into the school to discuss GCSE options or a parents evening when they return after the holiday? What if a child dies as a result of the school and the employers not taking the proper precautions? What about the school liabilities and employers liabilities if something goes wrong? What if what if what if. My point is as has already been expressed the perception verses the actual risk. Where would we be if we all didn’t take acceptable risks based on actual risk and reasonable control measures what a terribly boring existence. Lew

Posted By Lewis T Roberts Geoff, I am well aware of what I have scribed but thank you for the summary. Again the thread is about the hysteria surrounding the events that have materialized with respect to SARS. My comments were about perceived risks against actual risks that have already been discussed. I thought that this was clear I am in agreement with Jay. You seem to fall into the perceived category as opposed to the actual risk. You speak of percentages in terms of fatalities of those who fall victim to the condition rather than actual numbers who fall victim as a percentage of population. Rather than give the reason for the response to SARS you seem to have tried to justify and fuel the misconceptions outlining one possible scenario. Quarantining children or any other person for a period of two weeks without the justification based not on fact but perception, in my opinion, is not a reasonable control measure. Lew

Posted By Jack I'm with Lewis on this. I agreed with Geoff's points about why some people perceive the risk as being higher than it is but then, despite his evident 'risk literacy', he went along with his gut reaction to the situation and then allowed this to lead him to confuse death rates of those who get the disease with risk of getting the disease (falling off the top of multi storey car parks is often fatal but I'm still prepared to park on the top floor). Of course we need to understand and address the how people perceive risks but I think we should still understand what the real risks are.

Posted By Geoff Burt But Jack, would you park on the top floor if there wasn't a barrier around it? Geoff

Posted By Geoff Burt Lew We seem to be talking on different levels. Is 'quarantine' the same as 'locking up' - I think not. Has the quarantine idea for sars been accepted around the world - yes. Is taking sensible precautions in life boring - well maybe, but we all do it. Comments about teddies & prams? As I say we are talking on different levels. Geoff

Posted By Geoff Burt At least we agree on one thing.

Posted By Geoff Burt Quite right Dave. But it does make it more interesting with the different opinions being expressed. Geoff

Posted By Mark Large Quote "the answer is in the perception of risks compared to actual risk and what factors affect perception of risks." So true.. Why particularly the panic in this case as opposed to other infection diseases? Familiarity breeds comtempt. We are used to certain infections. They are so widespread that they are no longer newsworthy. If it isn't in the news people don't see it as a big deal. Man's worse fear is the unknown. Its a new disease and therefore instantly treated as a greater risk because people in general know nothing about it, don't trust information about it because the powers that be have been known to lie / are incompetant (perception). The familiar turned alien. The inferrance is that SARS is the common cold turned bad. Who of us hasn't had a cold at some time. The idea that a disease that visits us as regualry as an old friend could be lethal = big panic. Media. If its in the news it must be true! If only. The media is now an entertainment industry concerned with ratings. I'm afraid I have very little respect for modern day media since witnessing incedulous misrepresentation of fact .