Doctors Probe 4 More Deaths for SARS Link (Canada: Sars In Daycare!)

Canada.com ^ | June 1, 2003 | David Rider, with files from Paula McCooey

[MalcolmS]

Parry Sound is a small cottage country town about 100 miles North of Toronto. The 10 day quarantine for the first round of exposed people ended May 30. They had hoped that would be it, but now they are into a second round. Previously, high schools in/near Toronto has been affected. This is the first time for a daycare as far as I know.

[MalcolmS]

Please ping the usual suspects. Thanks.

[buffyt]

WHY is Toronto having such a bad outbreak of SARS?

[Judith Anne]

That's the nature of SARS, buffy.

[buffyt]

Why Toronto? A lot of travelers coming there from China or what? We haven't had any SARS here in my small town on the Texas Gulf Coast. Due to our huge petro-chemical complexes here, we have many world travelers. But we also have had a ban on travel at Dow Chemical, for reasons other than SARS. First 9/11, then the economy, then how badly Dow was doing financially. Maybe that travel ban saved us from SARS infections.

[Judith Anne]

Beats me.

[aristeides]

I don't have access to my ping list where I am now. I'll ping people later, if there hasn't been a ping before I get home.

[aristeides]

It's at least good that SARS does not seem to be that serious a disease for children. But they could spread the disease to other people. If infectiousness is related to the severity of symptoms -- and there appears to be some evidence for this -- then maybe they won't be that infectious either.

[Judith Anne]

partial ping...

[buffyt]

I recall that Jim Henson and Jamie O'Rourke died of the flu. I wonder if it was actually something like SARS and we just didn't have an epidemic of it back then?????

[Judith Anne]

If I remember correctly, Jim Hensen had a strep pneumonia.

[Stentor]

One man's opinion.

[DAnconia55]

I keep asking for a racial breakdown of the victims, but see nothing in print.

Toronto has a high Asian population. With visits to the Asia.

I'd still like to know if a majority of those infected are Asian. And not by luck of the draw.

UN-PC, yep.

[blam]

Another 'hot spot?'

[Judith Anne]

Sounds like it, doesn't it?

[riri]

This is the first time for a daycare as far as I know

I predicted, back in March, daycares would be hit hard. I have a friend who runs a facility. She says they are germ factories. All the children pass antibiotic resistant from of Staph infection back and forth, resulting in chronic ear infections. Many have to have tubes put in their ears to finally end the infection or leave daycare.

She says parents regularly drop sick kids off (the rule is no child with a fever can come to daycare). Sometimes, it takes the "teachers" an hour or two before they notice the child is sick. Many times these are the guys who are too little to say "Mom, I don't feel well", so Mom takes them in to daycare, heads off to work and gets the call an hour or two later that the little guy is sick. Her theory is that they do that so they get less hassle at their places of employment.

Just a second hand account of what goes on at our child care facilities.

[jerseygirl]

Interesting question. (Having lived in Toronto, I do know that they have a large "Chinatown" area south of the University of Toronto- all signs there are in Chinese, open-air markets, great restaurants.)

[aristeides]

It seems unlikely many of the health-care workers infected are Asian.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Bump for a SARS is apparently going to continue to be a problem. Wishing it will go away instead of taking harsh measures to contain will contribute to the spread. I knew the teenagers were not going to follow the rules of quarantine. Canadian and U.S. teens are exactly alike. No one, but NO ONE tells them what to do. Sometimes this type of behavior DOES have its consequences (as I try to tell them). However, they don't believe it does. This will make for an interesting watch. Either you do as you're told or you and a lot of others with you will DIE. How about that for a consequence of misbehavior?

[jerseygirl]

Very true. Although some Chinese assert/speculate that SARs is a U.S. bioweapon attack specifically designed to affect Oriental people disproportionately.