Bulletin No. 2, 2013

50th Anniversary Distinguished Lectures   41  Prof. Zhong Nanshan , currently Professor of Medicine at Guangzhou Medical University and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, visited CUHK on 17 October 2013 to deliver a distinguished lecture entitled ‘From SARS to H7N9—Management of Acute Respiratory Virus Infection in China’. Professor Zhong’s lecture covered the SARS crisis and the cases of H7N9 avian flu reported in China since early 2013. He recalled that at the beginning of the SARS epidemic, a coronavirus had already been identified as the culprit by a militar y medical institute. But since the Chinese medical community did not share information openly out of confidentiality considerations, it was not made known to the public until four months later. But the progress since then had been phenomenal, both in terms of the sharing of research findings and alertness to emerging strains. Professor Zhong said, ‘During the SARS, H5N1, H1N1 outbreaks, the pathogens were identified after there had been cluster infections in the populace.’ Within academic circles and the medical community alertness has been heightened. The few cases From SARS to H7N9 of the latest avian flu infections had very soon attracted the attention of medical practitioners, and no time was wasted in investigation and identifying it as H7N9. Moreover, mandatory reporting has ensured that new and suspicious cases would be discussed and findings shared among the experts. The ‘early diagnosis, early quarantine, and early treatment’ he advocated has become the golden rule for combating respiratory disease. Professor Zhong pointed out that genetic traces of chickens and ducks from Zhejiang and Korea are found in the H7N9 virus. In 70 per cent of the confirmed cases, patients were from fowl markets or were infected by direct contact with fowls. But a few cases suggested that the infection might be from individuals. Chinese researchers experimented with ferrets and found that the virus could be airborne. He also worried about the quality of the air: ‘I fear PM2.5 (suspended particles known as fine particulate matter) the most because these could be the vector for the virus or other dangerous substances. They would wreak havoc once they reach the pulmonary alveoli.’