Hi Jenny, Happy New Year! I am glad that the new suspicious symptom of the patient in Guangdong has drawn people's attention again, and you have written something very helpful for all of us!
I would like to comment some points raised in your wonderful discussion. There are two types of common infectious pathogens that can cause coughing and fever. The first type of pathogens is virus that causes diseases including the commonly known Flu; the other is bacterium that causes sometimes flu-like symptoms, i.e. coughing and fever. Antibiotics (i.e. penicillin, kanamycin, tetracyclin, and streptomycin) are very effective against many bacteria, but totally useless in front of viruses. People in China tend to mix the diseases from these two types of pathogens, and extensively use (in fact, "abuse" would be a better term) antibiotics regardless the sources behind the illness. In the past, many kids had the yellowish-teeth due to the overuse of tetracyclin before they turned in 13 years old. Even today, antibiotics still remain as the primary choice for doctors to treated fever-related illnesses throughout the country, especially in the countryside where the newly trained doctors are still scarce.
While antibiotics have proven to be powerful tools to prevent the epidermis in the world, and saved millions of lives, it is definitely true that frequent usage (or abuse) of antibiotics can induce the drug-resistant new bacteria strains over a period of time. For example, a new strain may develop in a local community in Sichuan over a period of time (presumably by over using certain antibiotics). Though this particular strain may not be so devastative to the local residences due to their adapted immune response during the evolution of the new bug, it certainly poses a great threaten to the people outside the community who lack the same immune response against the new bug. To make it worse, the advanced transportation system today can speed up the spread out of the disease throughout the globe rapidly.
In contrast, there has been less success in developing drugs against virus infection, mainly because the viruses sneak into the host cells and utilize the host cell machinery to replicate themselves. This approach by the viruses makes it hard to distinguish them from the host cells, a smart strategy that the viruses use to evade the radar-screen from the host immune system. The most notorious example is HIV viruses. Besides integrating themselves with the host cells in our bodies, these viruses also target on our immune cells, and directly attack and destroy the function of the cells--he only and most powerful defense system against any intruders in our bodies. In clinical practice, a cocktail of different drugs are commonly used to slow or block the HIV replication in the patients, and to boast the capacities of their immune system. In general, we also rely on our immune system to fight against other viruses, including influenza viruses, the real guilty-party behind the Flu. This is why people with Flu (usually by influenza viruses) usually just rest at home without taking any medicine (except some medicine to relieve running sinus or headache), the best strategy to concentrate our energy to our immune cells in fighting against the viruses.
However, there are still alternative approaches to deal with the infectious pathogens. One of the most effective ways to prevent either viral or bacterial infections is to develop potent vaccines. Today, vaccines have been developed and used against many human (also cattle) infectious pathogens (including the Flu viruses). While SARS is still dangling around the corner, the promising vaccines are on the horizon to be raised against the deadly virus that claimed over 700 live early this year.
