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■香港國際機場的工作人員為入境旅客量度體溫。 資料圖片
韓國「新沙士」疫情持續擴大，除新增兩例死亡個案外，確診人數也急增至25人①。「新沙士」疫情惡化，本港衛生當局在敦促韓方增加資訊透明度、防止病毒擴散的同時，還需呼籲港人暫停到韓國及有關疫情嚴重國家出差旅遊②，盡可能減低感染和傳播病毒的風險。
截至6月2日，其確診病例數字已位居世界第三，僅次於中東國家沙特阿拉伯和阿聯酋，更首次出現經第二代感染者傳染的第三代患者③，顯示病毒的傳染性不容小覷。
目前應繼續做好出入境檢疫把關，加強對韓國入境人士的健康檢查及信息追蹤，降低輸入性病例對香港造成的威脅。
面對「新沙士」挑戰，單憑政府及公共醫療系統顯然不足夠，全體市民都應該提高警覺，加入到全城抗疫的行動中。大家合力守穩抵禦疫症防線，就是最有效地保障個人的生命安全及社會福祉。（文匯報社評 3-6-2015）
編注：①截至6月14日，確診病例為138宗， ②特區政府於9日對韓發出紅色旅遊警示，③已出現第四代感染
Deadly MERS requires utmost caution
The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome（MERS） outbreak in South Korea continues to spread: two deaths have just been reported and confirmed cases have risen to 25. As the outbreak goes wild and the Hong Kong health authorities have urged for more transparency of information from Seoul, there is a need to stop citizens from traveling to the plagued country and the like to minimize the risk of infection and transmission.
Up to June 2, Korea had the third highest number of diagnoses, after Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. She has first seen tertiary infection by a secondary infectee, showing that any underestimation of MERS is risky.
At present, the authorities must keep screening tight at the customs and track health status of incoming visitors from South Korea to reduce the threat of imported cases.
It remains passive, as the deadly MERS looms, to rely solely on our government and the public healthcare system; the entire public should be vigilant and take part in the territory-wide effort to combat the virus. Let us all work out a solid defence line to safeguard lives and the well-being of the community.（3-6-2015）
Learning Point
Outbreak、epidemic和pandemic三字容易混淆。「新沙士」MERS現時應稱為outbreak，因為其集中在首爾地區；epidemic多指在一個國家內大幅擴散的疫症；而pandemic則指全球流行的疫症。
Exercise
分辨Outbreak, epidemic與pandemic不同之處，說出下列特徵屬epidemic或pandemic，或兩者皆是。
1. It is an infectious disease.
2. It occurs during a shorter period, and may disappear after a few weeks or a few months.
3. It affects only a particular area.
4. It has more cases than expected at a certain period of time.
5. It occurs over a wide geographic area like a continent or the whole world.
6. It affects a large proportion of the population around the world.
Answers
Outbreak: 1, 2, 3
Epidemic: 1, 2, 4
Pandemic: 1, 5, 6
■Translation and Learning Point by Tung-ming [tungming23@gmail.com]
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