Doctors handling SARS cases vulnerable
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
"As a human being, of course I am afraid of being infected," said Dr. Sardikin Giriputro, head of the SARS treatment center at Sulianti Saroso Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Sunter, North Jakarta.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, better known by its acronym SARS, has become a mysterious killer bug spreading to many countries in the world from Singapore to Slovenia, as reported by the World Health Organization.
"But we have the universal alert standard operating procedure (SOP) on treating patients with such infectious diseases, so if we follow all the procedures, hopefully we will not get infected," said Dr. Sardikin.
The SOP, he said, includes washing hands, wearing masks and treating patient waste carefully.
"So far, the worst thing I have experienced in treating patients with infectious diseases has been to catch a common cold," said Dr. Sardikin.
"People will not easily contract any disease as long as they have good resistance," said Dr. Wiwin Heruwiyono of St. Carolus Hospital in Salemba, Central Jakarta, "But as a human being, of course I am afraid."
"So I have to keep myself in good health and practice good personal hygiene," said Dr. Wiwin.
"Actually, even in facing normal cases, if a doctor is not in a good condition it would be better for him not to handle any patients," he said.
Dr. Tjandra Yoga Aditama, Medical Director at Persahabatan Hospital, East Jakarta, who is also a pulmonologist, said that no extra precautions need be taken by medical personnel as yet.
"So far we have not found any SARS cases here. But of course following the SOP is necessary," said Dr. Tjandra, who doubts that Indonesia -- which geographically is very close to Singapore -- has any cases of SARS yet.
WHO doctor Carlo Urbani was the first to have warned the world of the highly contagious form of pneumonia. Three weeks later, the Italian infectious disease specialist who treated some of the earliest cases of SARS had succumbed of the disease in a Bangkok hospital.
He left behind a wife, Giuliana, and his three sons.
A Singapore General Hospital (SGH) doctor was diagnosed with SARS on Sunday, as reported by The Straits Times, while 16 SGH staff members have been warded at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital -- Singapore center hospital for SARS -- on suspicion of having SARS.
In such an outbreak, medical personnel have the highest risk of being infected because they have the most intensive contact with patients.
By the end of March, about 900 cases were reported in Guangdong, China. About 45 percent were medical personnel who were handling the SARS patients.
So far, there have been no reports of a SARS case found in Indonesia.