On December 15, last year, 36-year-old Heyuan native, Huang
Xingchu, who works in a local restaurant in Shenzhen, got a fever
and went to Heyuan Hospital. Two days later he was transmitted to
Guangzhou Military General Hospital owing to a deteriorating
condition. He was discharged from hospital on January 10. Later
Huang was confirmed as the first reported Chinese SARS patient. He
once lived in seclusion due to the tremendous pressure of the
epidemic and recently picked up the courage to meet the media and
help medical workers find the source of SARS.
Unexpected first
Q: You contracted SARS in early December last year. How much
do you still remember?
Huang: Yes, previously I was very healthy, and if I had had
a fever or headache, I would be all right on the day after taking
some medicine. I felt sick and weak on December 5 and 6 and had a
fever of 38 or 39 degrees centigrade several days later. But I
didn't care about it as I thought I had a touch of the flu. Like
other chefs, I am susceptible to heat all day. I thought I was ill
because of the suffocating warm air. I called my family and they
asked me to go home. We rural families are particular about warding
off evil spirits or something like that, so I went home.
Q: How long had you been sick by then?
Huang: About one week. I was critically sick when I was at
home and was sent to Heyuan Hospital. Two days later I was severely
ill and was transferred to Guangzhou.
Q: How did you feel?
Huang: I felt very uncomfortable and had difficulty
breathing. I had already lost consciousness when I arrived in
Guangzhou.
Q: What did you think on hearing so many people were
infected by SARS at that time?
Huang: Actually I didn't know that I had contracted SARS
when I was discharged from hospital. So I had no pressure at that
time.
Q: When were you released from hospital?
Huang: January 10.
Q: When did you know that you had contracted the deadly
disease?
Huang: The first time I returned to Guangzhou Military
General Hospital for a further consultation, Doctor Huang Wenjie
who treated me before told me that I was OK now but many people had
contracted SARS and were really severely ill. After that I knew I
had been infected with SARS.
Q: Despite awareness of contracting SARS, you still didn't
know you were the first patient, did you?
Huang: No, I didn't.
Q: What did you think when you knew that you were the
first?
Huang: I was very surprised and felt under great pressure. I
thought that it was a tremendous strain for my family and me as it
might be very difficult to find work in the future. I come from a
village, and supported the whole family. I have already spent a lot
on medical treatment.
Double pain
Q: Some people believe your infection of SARS is closely
related to your career, saying that it is because you killed wild
animals. What do you think of that?
Huang: I know little about medical matters. While I know
that I am just a chef in the restaurant, I am in contact of just
bowls and pans. The task of killing chooks and ducks is taken by
unskilled laborers. I didn't do that and my colleagues haven't been
infected either.
Q: There is word on the Internet that Huang Xingchu's
mysterious disappearance was due to the expensive medical expenses
exceeding 100,000 yuan. Is that true?
Huang: I didn't owe money to the hospital, even one yuan.
Amongst the over 50,000 yuan medical expenses, the restaurant boss
paid 30,000 yuan and I paid the rest.
Yang Zhe (Vice President of Guangzhou Military General
Hospital): I can tell you conscientiously on behalf of our hospital
that Huang's whole medical expenses were over 50,000 yuan or so and
he didn't owe us even one yuan. The news isn't reliable.
Q: Did you suffer great mental torment?
Huang: Yes. Comparing to the physical pain, the pressure and
mental torment worried me for several months as well.
Q: What's your main pressure today? Material or mental?
Huang: Both. As a Chinese citizen, I used to live a normal
life. But now it seems that suddenly I am an escaped criminal.
Reporters dial my home number one after another and even come to my
home while I have no choice but to hide myself.
Q: The media said you were missing. So in fact where were
you?
Huang: I didn't go anywhere. I was at home all the time. I
knew the reporters came and I asked my families to tell them that I
was not in
Q: Why didn't you want to see the reporters?
Huang: Wouldn't that have been very difficult for me if I
had met with the media? Who would have had the courage to employ me
after that?
Q: Beside reporters, are you afraid of meeting others?
Huang: Yes, I am afraid of others' gossip. Everything is
topsy-turvy in my life thanks to SARS. I am an ordinary farmer.
However quite unaccountably, I contracted a deadly disease and then
became an unexpected famous person. It really caught me between
tears and laughter.
Q: You transmitted the disease to some medical workers in
Heyuan Hospital. After that, SARS was transmitted very quickly to
Beijing, Shanxi and many other places. What do you think of
that?
Huang: I have been tormented by a guilty conscience and I
kept asking whether the doctors and nurses of Guangzhou Military
General Hospital had been infected. I rest assured having been told
they were healthy. But I still don't think I contracted SARS from
beginning to end because my kids and friends didn't contract it and
the doctor in our village who treated me used no prevention
measures, but didn't contract the disease.
Q: Don't you feel a little remorseful?
Huang: Of course I do. Although I have no idea how I
contracted SARS, if it was me who really transmitted it to so many
people - I do feel guilty. I don't want to transmit the disease to
others and I never dreamt that I would catch it. Maybe I am a hard
luck man, while I am really sorry for that. I read the newspapers
and watch the TV reports everyday, very carefully
Q: Are you scared now? You know, many people died of SARS,
while nobody knew SARS when you contracted it
Huang: I am very scared now. So I am sincerely thankful to
Guangzhou Military General Hospital and Doctor Huang Wenjie. The
first sentence I said when I regained my consciousness was thank
you doctor, I got a feeling of coming back to life.
Is he Patient Zero?
Q: Huang Xingchu and his family still doubt whether he was
once a SARS patient and he himself went to Guangdong Provincial
Center for Disease Control and Prevention for further diagnosis as
well. As the doctor in charge of his case, what do you want to tell
us?
Huang Wenjie (director of Inhalation Therapy Department of
Guangzhou Military General Hospital and deputy leader of Guangdong
SARS medical expert team): Huang's symptoms and examinations were
all in line with the diagnosed standard. On May 22, he came to our
hospital for a further diagnosis. The result showed a high titer of
antibodies to the SARS virus in his body. Therefore there is no
doubt that Huang was a SARS patient. Moreover it indicates he has a
strong resistance to the killer epidemic now.
Q: Can we confirm that Huang was the first SARS patient in
China?
Huang Wenjie: The remark that Huang is the first SARS
patient in China is incorrect. While the correct one should be that
Huang is the first reported SARS patient in the world. Guangdong
Provincial Department of Health also agrees to the expression,
adding that people knew little about SARS before Huang contracted
SARS so it is difficult to tell whether there was any other patient
at that time.
Q: Currently some people said Huang is the beginning,
infecting others, then to Guangdong Province and the whole country.
He is the first point of the infection chain. Is that right?
Huang Wenjie: It's not right and unfair to Huang for there
is no scientific basis. According to our investigation, Huang
didn't infect anyone when he was in Shenzhen and he infected a few
people, including medical workers in Heyuan. After his arriving at
Guangzhou Military General Hospital, no more were infected by him.
The government has investigated seven cities with their each first
SARS patient, finding no relationships between them.
Q: What's your greatest wish now?
Huang Xingchu: I am a normal man and my greatest wish is to
have work at once so as to support my family. Several days after I
returned to the restaurant, the income of the restaurant dropped
from tens of thousands to over 2,000 yuan. Even for me, I felt
embarrassed to go back again. But the boss was very kind and didn't
blame me. He recommended me to work in a newly opened restaurant. I
feared I might put him to more trouble and I didn't go there.
However, I do want to resume my work for I am a deft hand at
cooking Kejia dishes. I sincerely hope that society won't
despise people who have fully recovered just like me. We are
healthy people. This is one of the reasons why I met the media with
courage today. Also, I hope we can find the source of SARS, develop
the vaccine and keep the epidemic under control as soon as
possible.
Huang Wenjie: The recovered people are not infective. I hope
our society can understand that.
Donating blood
On
the morning of May 21, Huang Xingchu and his family took body
examinations and had his blood taken for testing under hospital's
arrangement. Then Huang donated 150 cc to the hospital for
extracting antitoxic serum and using it in treating other SARS
patients and scientific research in the days to come.
(China.org.cn by Li Xiao, June 9, 2003)