Pneumonia causes panic in Guangdong province

The past fortnight has seen the province of Guangdong in southern China become victim to a serious pneumonia epidemic that seized its people with fear and caused major temporary economic damage but that eventually turned out to have relatively slight medical impact. By last week, there had been eight deaths.

However, considerable anxiety was created by an “epidemic of rumours.” During the first week of February the public became aware of a mysterious respiratory illness, which apparently had a very high mortality and caused death within hours. Symptoms included cough, fever, and breathing difficulty.

Rumours abounded about the source of the infection: a pneumonic plague spread by rats, an avian acquired respiratory infection from chickens or crows, a new strain of influenza, or even bioterrorism. The timing coincided with Chinese New Year, and a week long public holiday was under way. People spread their fears and new found information by telephone, mobile phone, text messages, email, and word of mouth. In the absence of public statements and official information the media communicated very little.

The news spread that the condition had no apparent cure but that vaporising white vinegar would help kill the infective agent. The newspapers reported dramatically increased sales of white vinegar, cold and flu preparations, and Chinese herbal tea. Unscrupulous pharmacists were selling preparations that normally cost 4 yuan (£0.30; $0.50; €0.45) for 60 yuan and shop vendors were selling vinegar at 12 times its original price.

Meanwhile, people wore protective face masks in buses and on the street and avoided restaurants and other crowded areas. Two of the four international schools in Guangzhou announced they would remain closed after the Chinese New Year holiday, and some foreigners made plans to send their children overseas.

The rumour spread that many of the victims of the illness were hospital staff and that a number of them had died. As a result outpatient departments almost emptied.

Another rumour was that a hundred people had been struck with the mystery illness at the World Trade Centre building in the centre of Guangzhou, escalating fears of legionella or even bioterrorism. The centre's managers responded by disinfecting the whole building, and they subsequently vaporised white vinegar through its ventilation system.

It was not until Tuesday 11 February that an official statement was made by the Guangdong Department of Health. In the interim it had been very difficult for doctors and other health professionals to respond to the barrage of inquiries. The officials announced that the first case had occurred in November 2002, but as it was common for influenza-like infections to afflict the community in the winter months there had been no undue concern.

To date there have been 345 cases in eight cities throughout Guangdong (which has a population of 80 million), but the number of new cases is declining.