Although there is no panic as yet about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), health department officials in Andhra Pradesh are on the alert. Screening of passengers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Begumpet has been given top priority with two medical teams - one from the Government Chest Hospital, Erragadda and the other from Gandhi Hospital – screening passengers for the symptoms. An ambulance has been kept ready at the airport.
According to Dr K Venu, state coordinator in-charge of SARS, passengers are required to fill in the SARS symptom feedback forms during their flight from the epidemic zones and hand them over to the medical team at the airport. Any suspected passenger is moved to the Government Chest Hospital, the referral centre for the disease, and is isolated. The patient is isolated at the Acute Respiratory Intensive Care unit that has six beds, exclusively for SARS patients. The facilities have been upgraded by providing new ventilators, X-Ray machines, nebulisers, oxygen concentrators and a fumigation system. All medical and para-medical staff have been provided with surgical masks. The government has not been able to provide the staff with masks that have the WHO-prescribed N 95 filters that give maximum protection from infectious-containing droplets. The Airport Authority of India staff at the airport have no masks or other protection whatsoever.
A meeting was called at the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) on the preparedness for tackling the viral epidemic. But no isolation ward for potential SARS patients has been readied so far. The Institute authorities are watching the situation and necessary action will be taken in an emergency.
The Directorate of Health officials are in the process of distributing pamphlets to spread awareness about the killer disease. District health and medical officials have been supplied with SARS guidelines procured from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi. Daily updates on the disease in the state is also being submitted to the Union Health Ministry.
The state had so far three suspected cases, but all the three proved to be negative.
Tourists and holiday-seekers from Andhra Pradesh are saying 'no' to destinations in the East as they are scared of the epidemic that has claimed more than 150 lives so far. Generally, tourists from AP prefer destinations in the East during this time of the year as they are familiar with the places and they are easy on the purse.
According to sources in travel and tourism agencies, tourism packages to China, Japan and Singapore have no takers. Those who still like to go holidaying abroad, prefer Europe this time. The tourist flow into India from SARS–affected countries has also come down.