Possible SARS in Toronto High School?

Reuters ^ | 5/28/2003 | Rajiv Sekhri

[Judith Anne]

Good link and summary above...

per loin, FL_engineer, all that tedious compiling and assessment of case numbers seems wasted, when we look carefully at the spread of SARS alongside the official pronouncements.

I'm becoming more and more convinced that we won't know what's going on if we rely on "official" figures, which mostly have at their base political motives skewing the count.

[Judith Anne]

PS I worked two 12s the last couple of nights, I'm turning in. I'll check back later. Good night, all...

[united1000]

I like going here, if it's in print, you'll see it here: Google news search for SARS

 

[jacquej]

Thanks for the link. I have a couple of message boards in my bookmarks that follow the story pretty closely, and use those instead of google, generally. After finding a story has an interesting clue, then I go to google to search out more on the tidbit.

Maybe I will try google first if I can get more that way...

There is a report from CBC that it might have spread to a community north of Toronto, with a couple of suspect/possible cases, and 70 there in quarantine. The message board i spotted it on didn't give the link, so I am off to track it down.

[jacquej]

went to your link and found an artcile posted 5 mintues ago that St. Catherines, a city southwest of Toronto, near Niagara Falls and Buffalo, now has 11 in quarantine.

The rest of the article makes light of the situation, says they are not "categorized" or showing symptoms, but is very vague about the details of why they are in quarantine, or whether they are linkable to any of the Toronto cases...

I wish we could get more information. It is really important if we are going to work as a community to help fight this... I know they do not want panic, but the best way, in my humble and possibly wrong opinion, is to give more information, not less.

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentID=33133&catname=Local+News

[myprecious]

The nurses are really ticked off.

This is a serious part of the problem in case of a major (even if only suspected) outbreak of SARS. The medical staff is watching nervously. There could be mass exits from the medical field if things get ugly.....

[jacquej]

I really do not want to think about the implications of a "mass exit". We are having enough difficulty with the shortage of skilled nurses in the US, not to mention the physicians leaving high risk practices because of insurance premiums.

My imagination gets away from me when I think about the potential for lawsuits against hospitals from infected patients, visitors, and staff calling those lawyers always advertising on TV... I just do not want to "go there"...

You know if a bad thing happens, it has to be somebody's fault, and that somebody has to have deep pockets. That somebody is ultimately us!

[harpseal]

I really do not maintain a ping list as such. I just look for a ping list that is out there and add sone Fl_engineer because he maintains the case log.

[blam]

"I can see her shake her head in my mind's eye right now... saying "Oh, Mom"... (lol)"

Yup. I've already heard the "oh dad" from my son too. If they let the schools out early, Canadians will start heading south (my area) for their vacations.

[blam]

"Italian health officials said they continue to worry about SARS, notably a possible panic this fall and winter -- flu season. In February, a virulent flu swept the country."

Are there reported cases of SARS in Italy? My son is on vacation in Florence, presently.

[blam]

"There could be mass exits from the medical field if things get ugly....."

Yup...and we already have a nurses shortage in the USA.

[jacquej]

I know your worry, blam. My son lives in Switzerland, and his job requires extensive travel. When I try to research via WHO, located there, only 1 case has ever been reported. But, when I do a google search, I find many more cases there.

My son is married to a lovely girl from Vicenza, Italy, and they visit her parnts with my two grandsons often.

By the way, the boy hospitalized in Toronto does have SARS, according to the following update on the situation...

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1054122001979_11///?hub=Canada

A Catholic school north of Toronto has been shut down and ordered into quarantine after a student attended classes last Friday while displaying symptoms of SARS.

Dr. Murray McQuigge, who is acting as a consultant to York Region Health Services, confirmed that a student at Father Michael McGivney Catholic Academy in Markham, Ont. is a suspect case of SARS.

In response the school is closed for 10 days and its 1,500 students and 120 staff are being quarantined as a precaution.

McQuigge told reporters that the term "suspected" should not lull students or parents into a false sense of complacency.

"A suspect case from public health point of view means they do have SARS," McQuigge told reporters in Newmarket.

"We're saying that this teenage person does have SARS so this is deadly serious."

Although McQuigge is "not aware of any other student at this school that is symptomatic," he urged parents to keep any children who attended the Markham high school between May 21 and 23 in quarantine conditions.

The quarantine protocols -- which are expected to last until midnight on June 2 -- include:

remaining at home, spending time alone and refusing any visitors
wearing M95 masks -- distributed to all students in home quarantine by the York Region health unit -- when in rooms with other family members not sharing cutlery, telephones or other household appliances.

monitoring for symptoms such as respiratory problems, fever, headaches and malaise.

Clarifying the quarantine order, McQuigge reminded parents that it only applies to students who were at the school -- not other family members.

When the students and staff of Father McGivney Academy are added to Ontario's growing quarantine list, it will total close to 5,000.

[blam]

"We're saying that this teenage person does have SARS so this is deadly serious."

So, now it's loose in the schools. Fortunately most young people recover....just have to find a way from spreading it to us older geezers.

[jacquej]

Yep... and from CBC report, the boy's mother was a health care worker, and is hospitalized as well. According to the article, they both were admitted on May 23rd.

I wonder how they are going to keep all those kids at home till June 3. I wonder how many he transmitted the virus to, and then how many of them will slip through the cracks and visit friends, hit the mall, the video store, etc...

[jacquej]

Oops! Forgot the link for those interested...

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/05/28/sars_school030428

[Snowy]

Well, school is almost out where I live. I can't believe that more progress hasn't been made (i.e., how it's spread). Maybe the CDC knows more than it's telling us.

[IYAAYAS]

I wonder if they really think they're going to keep a few thousand teenagers under quarintine. Springtime, hormones, rebelion, no school etc..

[Domestic Church]

"and then how many of them will slip through the cracks"

...And come down to the New Jersey shore for summer vacation.