SARS

[axebahia]

I just heard that SARS is so bad in Canada that Canadians are shuning Aians. Apparently, the Prime Minister had to go to lunch in China town in Toronto yesterday to show peole not to run away from Asians. It seems that the Canadian outbreak has resulted from travellers from Asia to Canada. So I was wondering are escorts out there ignoring Asian clients, or are clients ignoring Asian escorts here or abroad?

[duke37]

Okay all the people who will admit publicly to shunning Asians because of SARS please speak up.

 

 

 

<chirp chirp> <chirp chirp>

 

 

 

 

 

 

C'mon Axe man no one is going to admit to that. And I hope no one is doing it either.

 

Jeff

[foxy]

This is a tough week for Asians on this board. I think we should pick on people from Andorra now.

[axebahia]

It never crossed my mind until I saw the picture on the front page of a Canadian newspaper. I admit I cancelled an upcoming trip to Beijing, but otherwise it never occured to me to avoid Asians over here. Maybe the Canadian contingent on the board can explain the phenomenon?

[Guest fukamarine]

>It never crossed my mind until I saw the picture on the front

>page of a Canadian newspaper. I admit I cancelled an upcoming

>trip to Beijing, but otherwise it never occured to me to avoid

>Asians over here. Maybe the Canadian contingent on the board

>can explain the phenomenon?

 

Not much to explain - the only reason Asians are being avoided is because the problem seems to have started in China and spread to Hong Kong. As our Asian population is the most likely group to have travelled to Asia (or have had contact with those who have been there lately), the paranoid in our midst have decided it is prudent to avoid all Asians.

 

Does it make sense? Not to me - but go figure!

 

fukamarine

[Traveller]

Not only am I shunning all Asians, until SARS is eradicated I'm not ordering take-out Chinese, I've returned the Nikes that I just bought which were made in Guadong, and I'm not yelling harder Lotus Blossum to my BF when he's pounding my ass. Can't be too careful.

 

Later.

[+ nycman]

>...and I'm not

>yelling harder Lotus Blossum to my BF when he's pounding my ass. >Can't be too careful.

 

Thanks for a great laugh...

[Matt_Vancouver]

Oh for fuck sake.

People are so fucking stupid. There are probably 2 billion asians on the planet, just try and shun them.

The SARS hysteria, and that is what it's becoming, is ludicrous. You are more likely to get scabies from shaking someones hand than SARS from kissing an asian person. Ok poor analogy, but let's put things in perspective. SARS, yes if you see someone coughing up a lung and sweating profusly, you might want to back off, because chances are they have a cold.... But the hysteria is exacerbated when ridiculous things happen like a convention of 12000 doctors gets cancelled in Toronto, out of fear. These are doctors for crying out loud, they should know better.

Common sense, use it.

matt(welcomes my asian friends, with open mouth)

[axebahia]

>But the hysteria is exacerbated when ridiculous

>things happen like a convention of 12000 doctors gets

>cancelled in Toronto, out of fear. These are doctors for

>crying out loud, they should know better.

 

Or maybe they know something we don't know? I am curious how many escorts here would knowingly accept a call from clients from HIV infested African countries?

[DaninWA]

I'm more curious why there seems to be a weaker strain of SARS in the U.S. than in other countries. Not thinking conspiracy here, just curious.

 

Dan

[bluenix]

>Or maybe they know something we don't know? I am curious how

>many escorts here would knowingly accept a call from clients

>from HIV infested African countries?

 

Woo, break out the tin-foil hats.

 

Infested? Is that your best idea of Africa? Please, instead of posting why don't you just punch yourself in the balls.

 

No, really.

[Guest pshaw]

The CDC estimates that 36,000 Americans die from the flu each year, averaging a little less than 100 a day. The WHO reports 116 cumulative deaths from SARS from Nov. 1, 2002 to April 11. I avoided having sex with someone who was obviously suffering from cold or flu symptoms before SARS. That won't change. But no symptoms, no problem.

 

I have delayed my trip to Thailand for one month, not because of a fear of SARS but because Thailand had announced that anyone coming from Hong Kong, Vietnam, China or Singapore would be required to wear a mask for 14 days - not exactly the best way to enjoy a holiday. Since they made no distinction between the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong and Hong Kong International Airport (where I would be spending about 3 hours in transit), I decided to reschedule my flights to next month. I understand that while Thai authorities are still screening arrivals, the mask requirement has been dropped.

[axebahia]

>Infested? Is that your best idea of Africa? Please, instead of

>posting why don't you just punch yourself in the balls.

 

I worried that my short hand might be misinterpreted here, but recall that on many other threads I have challenged the idea that HIV rates are as high as is reported. What I am curious about is whether those escorts who disagree with me and who otherwise believe the hype, actively avoid clients from those African countries that are reputed to have such high HIV rates. I would use the word "infestation" to describe high HIV or other diseases any where.

[Luv2play]

I don't think there is any need for hysteria but common sense should be used in this SARS epidemic. First, scientists still don't know what they are dealing with, how it is transmitted and finding a cure or vaccination. So caution is dictated. SARs appears to have originated in China but because of their mishandling of the outbreak, valuable time was lost before the disease spread.

 

While many more people die of the flu, the troubling thing about SARs is that it has a relatively high mortality rate compared to other flus and it strikes down the healthy as well as the infirm. Moreover, health care workers have been many of the victims, indicating the highly contagious nature of the disease.

 

It is not surprising that the convention of doctors was cancelled in Toronto; they were cancer specialists and were told if they came they would have to quarantine themselves on their return home and not be able to treat their patients for two weeks because of the risk they would present. Is this unreasonable, considering you can catch SARs by standing beside a SARs victim and having them cough in your presence or touching a door handle they have touched. These are all possible means of transmission and until it is settled, caution has to be exercised.

 

So no, you don't avoid every Asian you encounter, but you might ask if they have just returned from a SARS hotspot or been in contact with anyone who has SARs. It may seem excessive, but it may save your life.

[Guest Tampa Yankee]

>While many more people die of the flu, the troubling thing

>about SARs is that it has a relatively high mortality rate

>compared to other flus and it strikes down the healthy as well

>as the infirm.

 

According to my physician, an infectious disease specialist, SARS is not a flu, it is a pneumonia. This corona virus is new though related to known viruses and we really know nothing about it. The observed mortality rate is 3%-5%. The plus side is that it is not a flu which has the potential to be a real world wide pandemic. The negative side: we can develop vaccines for flu viruses. :-(

[BgMstr4u]

A friend I respect, a physician, told me more than a week ago that he was more worried about SARS than about any consequence of the war in Iraq. This was well before the unbelievably rapid collapse of the Iraqi regime, when a massive and prolonged war seemed likely. I was impressed by how seriously he took it. A conversation with him yesterday was just as urgent. His main worry was infected planes which airlines would probably not sanitize sufficiently. He urged me to check on the internet to verify the origin point of flights -- from China, Hong Kong, etc., and to fly an airline that does not go to the main infected areas at all, like Aer Lingus. I was planning to fly to Europe after Easter, and he urged me to reconsider. I did.

 

Certainly one of the things that is new in this new millenium is the increasing fragility of businesses, like airlines, that seemed secure not long ago. The rapid movement of people brings with it equally rapid movement of pathogens, and therefore rapid and essentially unstoppable dispersion of diseases from one corner of the globe to another in a matter of days, not weeks.

 

One further caution about SARS. The Chinese government has no real credibility either in sophisticated disease protection and prevention or in truthful reporting. This is partly because of the incompetent and paranoid nature of that regime, and partly because of the vast and more or less uncontrolled rural areas of China in which the government's reach is tenuous. What is really happening is not and cannot now be known.

[VaHawk]

Hey axe, seems like your thread took a real side track, but then again that's not unusual, huh? As far as your post goes, I would not hesitate, based on the evidence so far, to hire an Asian escort. But unfortunately, there are very, very, very few here in the DC area. What about you? Will you hire an Asian escort now? But, it is not just Asians that are being infected is it?

[axebahia]

>What about you? Will you hire an

>Asian escort now? But, it is not just Asians that are being

>infected is it?

 

Well, I am sorry to say that I have never found Asian men (or women for that matter) to be very attractive. I did have a mixed Asian/white escort in NYC once who had an amazing bubble butt, but even then the choice owed more to a deceptive pic than to a concerted decision. Other than that, I have cancelled a trip to China, but I have not been avoiding Asians, Asian restaurants or people who travel to Asia.

[axebahia]

>A friend I respect, a physician, told me more than a week ago

>that he was more worried about SARS than about any consequence

>of the war in Iraq.

 

I take it he did not live in Baghdad?!

[Luv2play]

I don't see how your specialist KNOWS it's not a flu when everyone agrees they don't know what it is. It does have flu-like symptoms. Whatever it is, it results in pneumonia, as a flu can do. At this point scientists are trying to map the genetic make-up of the virus causing SARs. At least, this is what I understand about the situation. But I only know what I read and hear, I am not a doctor.

[Barry]

B.C. lab cracks suspected SARS code

 

GREAT news!!! The first step to developing a test, treatments and possibly a vaccine for SARS has been completed.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/04/12/sars_code030412

 

And for more info on SARS itself....

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/sars/

 

Barry

[dick_nyc]

RE: B.C. lab cracks suspected SARS code

 

That is great news. I have friends who are planning trips and who also have family members with asthmatic conditions or emphysema or lung disorders and are very susceptible to this type of disease. I passed it on to them. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope this is it and that we can also help the Asians who have the disease already.

[Guest VanBCGuy]

I have not seen nor heard nor experienced any shunning of Asians, and I live in a city (Vancouver) where the Asian population comprises at least 1/3 of the population.

 

Back to the original post, where did you (Axe....) get the info?

[axebahia]

>Back to the original post, where did you (Axe....) get the

>info?

 

Front page of the Toronto Star and the Globae and Mail - Canada's largst circulating daily newspapers - last week with the picture/story described in the original post.

[axebahia]

RE: Kimchi is a cure to SARS

 

Kimchi becomes dish of the day

By Andrew Ward in Seoul

Published: Financial Times April 14 2003

 

Kimchi, the fiery pickled cabbage dish at the heart of South Korean cuisine, could provide resistance against Sars, according to South Korea's Rural Development Agency.

 

The agency said the large amount of garlic in kimchi might explain why none of the country's 48m people had yet succumbed to Sars.

 

"I don't think it is just a coincidence that a country with a food culture like Korea's is free of Sars," said Hong Jong-woon, a researcher at the agency.

 

Garlic has long been recognised for its medicinal qualities, reducing people's chances of developing cancer and heart disease and increasing resistance to infections and viruses.

 

Mr Hong said it was likely that garlic also protected against Sars, although he admitted that more research was needed to prove his theory.

 

Kimchi - strips of cabbage soaked in garlic and red pepper - is served as a side dish with almost every Korean meal, including breakfast. George Slama, representative of the World Health Organisation in Seoul, agreed that kimchi was a healthy food but said people should not rely on it to prevent Sars.

 

"There are hundreds of different substances in garlic and many of them are good for health but it is impossible to prove a link with Sars," he said.

 

Cynics pointed out that Mr Hong's agency had an interest in promoting South Korea's garlic industry, the world's second-largest garlic producer after China.

 

Kimchi is the latest in a series of foods and medicines claimed to give immunity to Sars, which has caused panic in many parts of south-east Asia.

 

Taiwan's China Post newspa