India, as of now, safe from SARS

India, as of now, seems to be safe from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which has claimed nearly 100 lives worldwide.

Doctors checking passengers at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi have not found anyone infected with SARS.

"Our team has checked 16 passengers for SARS, but none of them had any symptom except for cough. They were allowed to leave after our team of doctors was satisfied," Dr S K Singh, who heads the medical team at the IGI Airport, told rediff.com on Monday.

The doctors get four to five suspected cases everyday, and the frequency has increased in the last three days.

There are three main symptoms of SARS, which is mainly spread through coughing or sneezing: high fever, cough and difficulty in breathing. The incubation period is estimated to range from two to seven days.

"There was a passenger from Singapore who had high fever. We had to keep him under surveillance for 10 hours. But he did not have any other symptoms," Dr Singh said.

"Though no passenger has tested positive for SARS yet, we have asked the suspected cases to maintain surveillance for 10 days and inform the medical authorities if they detect symptoms," he added.

Following the directions of the Ministry of Health, authorities at the airport have introduced a health form and passengers are urged to disclose their travel history or symptoms of the disease.

"The airline crews and the immigration officials are distributing these forms to the passengers and urging for disclosures, as that would not just save an infected person, but also prevent the infection from spreading," the chief airport health officer said.