HONG KONG: When Dr. Yu Cheuk-man, an associate professor of cardiology, tested the clinical skills of a group of medical students in a hospital ward here on March 6, he paid little attention to the 26-year-old pneumonia patient in a nearby bed. But unbeknownst to Dr. Yu or anyone else in the hospital, the patient was not a typical pneumonia case. He was infected with a disease that would be named a week later: SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome. Because the patient had been treated with a device to help him cough up the fluid in his lungs, he was spraying tiny virus-laden droplets into the air...

originally posted by xowie

Amid it all, some people are also trying to figure out emerging social protocols. Is it rude to cross the street when someone nearby coughs? Can you disinvite a dinner guest who comes down with a cold? Even friendly conversation is under review. Aimee Gerry — one side of her family is of Japanese descent — says she often jokes with her white friends about SARS. She said that if someone coughed, "people will point to the person and say, `SARS!' " But that kind of kidding is not well received among her Asian-American friends.

originally posted by xowie