Mark Steyn: The system infected us

National Post ^ | April 24 2003 | Mark Steyn

[Dog Gone]

Regardless of whether SARS is present, you did the right thing. People who are sick should not be running around trying to be a hero. They should be making every effort not to infect others.

[Carry_Okie]

Regardless of whether SARS is present, you did the right thing.

The call was a deliberate nudge, a wake-up call to get management to remember that I know SARS is no joke and will hold them to it if they don't take it seriously. They know I mean it too.

I told the wife in no uncertain terms (me being the tactless husband that I am :-) that if there is another management failure like this arrogant Chinese creep doctor sitting down at her desk to use the phone while sick as a dog, that she just calmly don a mask, gloves, and goggles, whip out the disinfectant, and quietly get to work cleaning up around him.

Tactful, ain't I? What could anybody say about it?

I used to do research and development work in the viral barrier protection business. This idiot is dangerous. I can now report that they sent him home today.

[harpseal]

Given many of the hospitals in the USA do some of the same emergency room type situations it is not impossible that this could have occurred here, particularly in a city of equivalent size. I will be willing to listen to the superior US response next month when we a certain we are not facing a major problem with SARS.

[stands2reason]

I've got to send this to a co-worker who's totally conservative "except for socialized health care." She needs to know what it really looks like.

[stands2reason]

But at least they're not Americans! They'll always have THAT to fall back on. I hope it's enough for them.

But they are way nicer than us. Unfortunately, nice = dumb.

[stands2reason]

Will SARS end Communist totalitarianism in China?

Actually I thought occasional mass human sacrifice is what kept the wheels of Communism "greased."

[aruanan]

...the decrepitude of socialized health care, which almost by definition is reactive rather than anticipatory, and belatedly so at that.

AKA Hillary Care

[Betty Jo]

FOX has just said that Canada is saying two more have died.

America will not be able to handle SARS much better.

There are only so many beds, nurses, Dr.s etc.

There are very few reverse air isolation rooms.

Time will tell its ugly tale.

Think about the thousands of Asian illegals crossing our borders every day.Are the border guards taking temps?

In my opinion, this WMD is from Islamic terrorists with love.

[lepton]

bookmark bump

[Betty Jo]

Reuters says two more died today in Ontario.Quotes Ontario Health.Total dead now 18.

[TomB]

I will be willing to listen to the superior US response next month when we a certain we are not facing a major problem with SARS.

Why another month? Because the facts don't fit your theory this month?

The fact of the matter is that SARS cases appeared in both countries within a few days of one another. Face it, the evil, overpaid US doctors are doing a good job with this problem.

[mrustow]

Hey, this guy doesn't just write pretty words -- he ain't a half-bad reporter, either.

[harpseal]

Why another month? Because the facts don't fit your theory this month?

No I will stand corrected on the basis that SARS cases appeared in both nations at the same time. I was of the impression the first US cases appeared about a month after the Toronto case but I have not followed it in detail.

[George Smiley]

Because UN agencies are unduly deferential to dictatorships, the World Health Organization accepted Beijing's lies.

This enabled SARS to wiggle free of China's borders before anyone knew about it.

Not.

IMHO, the real reason that SARs got so far, so fast was that it spread from Guangzhou (Canton) to Hong Kong right as the Lunar New Year celebrations (last few days of Jan/first few days of Feb 2003) were going on; and it just so happens that people from all over the world go to Hong Kong for the celebrations.

On the plane from HK to the states, there were people who sounded so bad that my wife and I both thought about the "superflu" from Stephen King's The Stand.

[AFreeBird]

B4L8r

[TomB]

No I will stand corrected on the basis that SARS cases appeared in both nations at the same time. I was of the impression the first US cases appeared about a month after the Toronto case but I have not followed it in detail.

Apparently.

Initial cases appeared in both countries around March 15.

University of Waterloo SARS update

If you have a fever, cough or chest cold AND: one of the following visited Scarborough Grace Hospital OR York Central Hospital after March 16; (the initial Canadian case was at SGH)

Update: Outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome --- Worldwide, 2003

United States. As of March 26, CDC has received 51 reports of suspected SARS cases from 21 states (Table), identified using the CDC updated interim case definition (Box (Figure 2). The first suspected case was identified on March 15, in a man aged 53 years who traveled to Singapore and became ill on March 10.

[TomB]

Sorry, I meant to ping you to post 57 that disputes the assertion the SARS in Canada is "merely in an advanced stage". As you can see, the disease appeared in both countries at about the same time. (MMWR is a good resource for SARS info).

[discostu]

I've been saying for a while that SARS is going to turn out to be a great argument against socialized medicine. That's where the disease is being the most effective, where medicine is still privatized SARS isn't even getting a foothold.

[harpseal]

February 28th: Kwan Sui-Chu, having recently returned from Hong Kong, goes to her doctor in Scarborough complaining of fever, coughing, muscle tenderness, all the symptoms of the by now several ProMed alerts. As is traditional in Canada, the patient is prescribed an antibiotic and sent home.

Not to be picky about the dates but I believe this was probably the index case for Toronto. Now I have no idea if this strain of SARS has mutated into something more virulent or more contagious than the strains reported in the USA. I really have not been actively following this subject but please correct me when I am wrong. There is no definitive estimation of how contagious this virus is. It has a mortality rate somewhere between 1% and 16%. It seems Canada has turned the corner in many ways regarding new occurences of SARS. It seems the USA has implemented enough good measures so that we are not suffering any deaths from it yet All I have been trying to state is that perhaps our medical system might occaisionally miss diagnose a patient in the emergency room or leave someone to wait for traetment/diagnosis. Human nature being what it is sometimes the lazy diagnosis is what is used.