Startseite Linguistik & Semiotik 3. "SARS" versus "atypical pneumonia": Inconsistencies in Hong Kong's public health warnings and disease-prevention campaign
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3. "SARS" versus "atypical pneumonia": Inconsistencies in Hong Kong's public health warnings and disease-prevention campaign

  • Gwendolyn Gong und Sam Dragga
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The Social Construction of SARS
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch The Social Construction of SARS

Abstract

When Hong Kong first reported cases of SARS, the government developed a public health campaign to warn and educate the local community and international travelers about the highly-contagious disease. Unfortunately, concern that the similarity of the acronyms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong SAR) and the illness (SARS) would have negative political and economic impact on the territory appears to have led Hong Kong officials to use the term atypical pneumonia interchangeably with SARS, the official name coined for the illness by the World Health Organization, long after it was appropriate to do so. This errant usage probably resulted in inconsistent and misleading public health information, late quarantine policy, inadequate safety measures, and higher than necessary infection and death rates. The lessons of Hong Kong’s tragic experience are familiar: words are important, words have consequences, and words are ethical choices that can make a difference in how people respond to the events that are labeled by them.

Abstract

When Hong Kong first reported cases of SARS, the government developed a public health campaign to warn and educate the local community and international travelers about the highly-contagious disease. Unfortunately, concern that the similarity of the acronyms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong SAR) and the illness (SARS) would have negative political and economic impact on the territory appears to have led Hong Kong officials to use the term atypical pneumonia interchangeably with SARS, the official name coined for the illness by the World Health Organization, long after it was appropriate to do so. This errant usage probably resulted in inconsistent and misleading public health information, late quarantine policy, inadequate safety measures, and higher than necessary infection and death rates. The lessons of Hong Kong’s tragic experience are familiar: words are important, words have consequences, and words are ethical choices that can make a difference in how people respond to the events that are labeled by them.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I. Constructions of SARS in Hong Kong
  5. 1. Hong Kong's multiple constructions of SARS 17
  6. 2. A hero story without heroes: The Hong Kong government's narratives on SARS 33
  7. 3. "SARS" versus "atypical pneumonia": Inconsistencies in Hong Kong's public health warnings and disease-prevention campaign 53
  8. 4. Internet press freedom and online crisis reporting: The role of news web sites in the SARS epidemic 69
  9. Part II. Constructions of SARS on the Chinese mainland
  10. 5. Party journalism vs. market journalism: The coverage of SARS by the People's Daily and Beijing Youth News 93
  11. 6. Construction of nationalism and political legitimacy through rhetoric of the anti-SARS campaign: A fantasy theme analysis 109
  12. 7. SARS discourse as an anti-SARS ideology: The case of Beijing 125
  13. Part III. Constructions of SARS in Singapore and Taiwan
  14. 8. "Triumph over adversity": Singapore mobilizes Confucian values to combat SARS 145
  15. 9. Singapore at war: SARS and its metaphors 163
  16. 10. Reporting an emerging epidemic in Taiwan: Journalists' experiences of SARS coverage 181
  17. Part IV. Cross national constructions of SARS
  18. 11. Newspaper coverage of the 2003 SARS outbreak 203
  19. 12. Effects of rationality and story attributes on perceptions of SARS perception 223
  20. Index 241
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.30.05gon

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I. Constructions of SARS in Hong Kong
  5. 1. Hong Kong's multiple constructions of SARS 17
  6. 2. A hero story without heroes: The Hong Kong government's narratives on SARS 33
  7. 3. "SARS" versus "atypical pneumonia": Inconsistencies in Hong Kong's public health warnings and disease-prevention campaign 53
  8. 4. Internet press freedom and online crisis reporting: The role of news web sites in the SARS epidemic 69
  9. Part II. Constructions of SARS on the Chinese mainland
  10. 5. Party journalism vs. market journalism: The coverage of SARS by the People's Daily and Beijing Youth News 93
  11. 6. Construction of nationalism and political legitimacy through rhetoric of the anti-SARS campaign: A fantasy theme analysis 109
  12. 7. SARS discourse as an anti-SARS ideology: The case of Beijing 125
  13. Part III. Constructions of SARS in Singapore and Taiwan
  14. 8. "Triumph over adversity": Singapore mobilizes Confucian values to combat SARS 145
  15. 9. Singapore at war: SARS and its metaphors 163
  16. 10. Reporting an emerging epidemic in Taiwan: Journalists' experiences of SARS coverage 181
  17. Part IV. Cross national constructions of SARS
  18. 11. Newspaper coverage of the 2003 SARS outbreak 203
  19. 12. Effects of rationality and story attributes on perceptions of SARS perception 223
  20. Index 241
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Heruntergeladen am 29.9.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/dapsac.30.05gon/html
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