Update on Hospital Lockdown/Smallpox Scare

Florida News-Press ^ | Oct. 23, 2002 updated: 2:45 am EDT | Sharon Turco

[FairOpinion]

Smallpox-like symptoms on a woman brought into Cape Coral Hospital on Tuesday prompted the lockdown of two emergency rooms and a fire department and sent health officials scrambling to diagnose the ailment.

“At first, smallpox was one of the diseases under consideration,” said Dr. Judith Hartner, director of the Lee County Health Department. “We determined it is a very, very low possibility, but it has not been ruled out.”

Hartner said it would take several days to medically discount smallpox as the cause of the patient’s symptoms.

Cultures were taken and sent off to a lab. It will take about 24 hours to get back the results, said Jeff Doucette, the hospital system’s director for emergency services.

“We don’t know exactly what she has, but her symptoms are consistent with an infectious disease,” Hartner said.

Besides smallpox, doctors are looking at a long list of diseases including chicken pox and herpes.

There have been no reports of others with similar symptoms.

[FairOpinion]

I certainly hope it isn't smallpox -- but it is curious that they still don't really know what it is, and since they say there have been no reports of others with similar symptoms, and they have seen pretty much everything in hospitals, it does make one wonder, just what it is. But in an earlier article they said they were sure she has some type of infectious disease and rashes, which is what made them think of the possibility of smallpox.

[Mamzelle]

A good drill. Hope other hospitals are paying attn. There's also "cow pox."

[Snowy]

Hmmm... Florida again....

[Vic3O3]

Same thing happened the other day at St John's Hospital in Leavenworth KS. Turned out to be a really bad case of chickenpox (hospital no longer under quarantine). The guy's pox were pustulent according to the reports I heard.

[aruanan]

Besides smallpox, doctors are looking at a long list of diseases including chicken pox and herpes.

Shingles would be my guess.

[3AngelaD]

Didn't the anthrax thing start in Florida? Hope this is a false alarm.

[AnAmericanMother]

There's almost no doctor living who's seen an actual case of smallpox. Badly septic chickenpox or even prickly heat could be mistaken for smallpox if you're working from descriptions in a book . . . it has happened before. Vide George MacDonald Fraser's story "Fly Man" in The General Danced at Dawn.

Better safe than sorry. And if a few false alarms like this encourage the govt. to allow us to choose to be vaccinated (or in my case revaccinated for what must be the 4th or 5th time), so much the better.

[Beenliedto]

Besides smallpox, doctors are looking at a long list of diseases including chicken pox and herpes.

Q: So why, in view of the long list, does the headline read "smallpox?"

A: Because the objective is to keep the sheeple on edge by any means possible, thereby providing cover for the state's continuing power grab.

[jdogbearhunter]

PING

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

“We don’t know exactly what she has, but her symptoms are consistent with an infectious disease,”

Wow! I, for one, am blown away by the sheer Holmesian (as in Sherlock) deductive brilliance of this statement. I hope that the "plan" that our fearless Feds have for a REAL smallpox outbreak takes into account the VERY SIGNIFICANT time delay in diagnosis of the index case, which will certainly be at least several days- perhaps a week AFTER symptoms appear.

The alternative is to "lock down" the whole country every time a case of herpes is seen...

[phasma proeliator]

Ping

[Diana Rose]

BUMP

[tracer]

I'm not siding with anyone, but you must have been eavesdropping to say that. Let's keep our minds of the gutter before spouting off.... 8~)

[aruanan]

I'm not siding with anyone, but you must have been eavesdropping to say that. Let's keep our minds of the gutter before spouting off.... 8~)

No, I've just seen photos of smallpox and I've seen a bad case of shingles close up.

[tracer]

You must not appreciate puns.... 8~)

[tracer]

Well, at least you didn't raise the roof......

[steve-b]

The alternative is to "lock down" the whole country every time a case of herpes is seen

That would sure make it difficult for the 'Toon to deliver his $100k speeches....

[aruanan]

Well, at least you didn't raise the roof......

I was flashing my expertise to show how well I had it nailed.

[Snowy]

You must not appreciate puns.... 8~)

He may not appreciate puns, but you certainly have me beaming! :)

[tracer]

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!!! Uncle!! Uncle!!