Vietnam 'beating Sars'

By Richard Black
BBC science correspondent

Vietnam has become the first country in the world to contain the pneumonia-like illness Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars).

Tourists and residents will be able to breathe more easily

It has been 20 days since Vietnam's last reported case - twice the incubation period - and the World Health Organization says the country has successfully controlled its outbreak.

There is also evidence that Sars infections are declining in other countries.

That leaves the focus now firmly on mainland China.

There are two major reasons why Vietnam has been able to control Sars so quickly.

Firstly, there was only one so-called "index case" - one person who initially spread the disease.

Quick action

Secondly, and more importantly, was the swift reaction of doctors and health authorities.

The reaction of officials such as Tran Thi Trung Chien is seen as key

The affected hospitals were sealed off and the government and the WHO quickly alerted.

The WHO's representative in Vietnam, Pascale Brudon, praised the action of the authorities.

"The government has really been extremely co-operative - we have been able to very quickly isolate these Sars patients, to very quickly identify and follow all the contacts of the Sars patients," she said.

Hopes of elimination

In Vietnam, the infection rate peaked at the beginning of March.

The rate also seems to have peaked, though somewhat later, in Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada, leading to optimism at the WHO that Sars could soon be eliminated in these places too.

However, the picture in mainland China, which has had more cases than everywhere else put together, is still confused.

By concealing the scale of the problem, the government has made it impossible to put together a coherent history of the epidemic.

The news from Vietnam is evidence for the need for openness in dealing with disease outbreaks.

It is also evidence for the power of isolation, one of the oldest medical procedures, in controlling infection.