Five Fairfield students studying in China had their semesters cut short by increasing concern over an ailment blamed for hundreds of deaths. The ailment, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), has struck China with the most ferocity.
The Fairfield students were sent home three weeks before the end of the semester when the program they were enrolled with terminated the semester, according to Susan Fitzgerald, director of the study abroad program.
“We’ve been keeping close watch on the SARS situation since the problem started, and you’ve often been in my thoughts,” wrote Christine Bowers, assistant director of international education, in an email to the students obtained by The Mirror. “So, it was with a blend of disappointment and relief that I read [the Beijing Center reported] that the semester would end early for you.”
Although Fitzgerald empathized with the students and the abrupt end to their experience abroad, she fully supported the decision to end the program.
“I feel badly if they had travel plans after the completion of the program,” she added.
There had been rumors that the students would be sent home because of the SARS outbreak, according to Melissa Thompson, ’04, one of the students studying in Beijing.
“The director of The Beijing Center held a mandatory meeting last week, and many people back at home have been worried, putting pressure on the program to send us home,” she said. “We thought the SARS problem was under control. There were articles in China Daily saying that SARS cases were no longer a problem.”
The Chinese government was covering up SARS cases, and the number of cases was estimated to be ten times more than what was actually reported, according to Thompson.
“Everyone has been really anxious,” she said. “We have been getting emails from the U.S. Embassy first on the war, now on SARS. The World Health Organization has been contacting us with advice on how not to contract SARS.”
The students were told to wear surgical masks to protect themselves, and health authorities believed the problem would only get worse.
Gwen Nolan, ’04, who is studying in Bach Khoa, Vietnam, reported travel limitations were put into effect, and students were quarantined for a week.
The Bach Mai Hospital, where several SARS patients died, is only miles from Nolan’s school, causing panic and unease in the community.
“People were flipping out for awhile,” Nolan said. “We had to sign health waivers, and come up with an evacuation plan.”
Although Nolan’s school has not cancelled the program, she reported she would stay in Vietnam regardless of the situation.
“Some might leave early…personally, I will not,” she said. “But, the issue is or was, that the hospitals in Hanoi all closed and were not admitting anyone. One student got very ill, not from SARS, and they were unable to be seen.”
Nolan reported healthcare services remain as a major concern, and tourism has diminished greatly since SARS cases have risen.
“All the major hotels are suffering big time,” she said. “You can now stay at the Hilton for $2 a night … it’s a ghost hotel.”
Fairfield students and professors expressed a concern about this disease.
“It leaves me a little unsettled, but you never really feel the true ramifications of something like this until it hits home,” said Kevin Nyarady, ’05.
“I don’t plan on traveling abroad anytime soon either, and something like this strengthens my view,” added Nyarady, a business major.
Several dozen cases of SARS have been reported in the United States and the potential remains for the disease to spread more extensively.
“I anticipate this is going to be a problem in the United States,” said Phil Grenier, DNSc, RN, and associate professor of nursing at Fairfield. “Considering all the traveling Americans do, it’s a major issue. The biggest problem right now is trying to isolate what its cause may be.”
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