Canadian SARS outbreak mystifies experts

Canadian Press ^ | May 26, 2003

[Dog Gone]

ping

[aristeides]

But because she had no known link to a SARS case, she was not classified as a SARS patient and was not treated in isolation. She spread the disease there.

So the faulty clinical definition of SARS played a crucial role.

[aristeides]

Public Health Measures Can Contain SARS, Two Modeling Studies Suggest.

[aristeides]

SARS Army Battling at U.S. Airports .

[Judith Anne]

I've had a problem with that faulty definition since I read it, as you know.

[Judith Anne]

That's a good article you linked from the WaPo above, still, it shows the holes...if someone is infected but has no fever yet, they'd slip right through that net...

[riri]

U.S. uses tough campaign against SARS

[vetvetdoug]

I have always maintained that SARS is the like a human form of FIPV. A feline infected with FIPV never gets over it. An infected cat can serve as a source of infection to those non-infected for a long time. SARS is paralleling the experience found by veterinarians treating cats infected with FIPV. SARS is a nightmare for human medicine and it is, like I said from day one, going to take draconian measures to contain it or we are in for a long dangerous and painful ride.

[Dog Gone]

I think there are only three ways to contain SARS. Develop a quick and accurate test, or develop an effective vaccine in the very near future, or immediately shoot and cremate all SARS victims.

It doesn't look like any of those things will happen.

[aristeides]

I think there are only three ways to contain SARS. Develop a quick and accurate test, or develop an effective vaccine in the very near future, or immediately shoot and cremate all SARS victims.

Isn't the development of an effective treatment a fourth possibility? Or are you assuming that that is impossible?

[blam]

"There continues to be absolutely no evidence of transmission of SARS in the general community."

But, they cannot identify the index case. So...

[VOA]

Canadian SARS outbreak mystifies experts

Amazing hoe the Hillary!Care doesn't seem to work so well after all...

(I've been suprised at the American doctors who will just say out loud
that the Canadian hospitals just were sloppy at their infectious disease
containment procedures. Usually getting one doctor to criticize another
takes a stick of dynamite to get their jaws open.)

[Jim Noble]

This is from CDC "Interim Guidance for Institutions or Organizations Hosting Persons Arriving in the United States from Areas with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)":

"Thousands of people arrive in the United States from areas where SARS outbreaks are occurring to participate in gatherings such as academic courses, business meetings, or sporting events. Guidance is needed to provide a consistent, rational approach to SARS prevention without unnecessarily stigmatizing these groups or interfering with collegial pursuits, commerce, and other important activities. "

What else is there to say?

"Unnecessary stigmatization" is what we need to guard against.

[Dog Gone]

I guess I was assuming that an effective treatment wouldn't stop someone from spreading the disease. But I'll add it as a fourth way.

If we can come up with a pill or something that instantly cures SARS, we'll be in good shape.

I want to own the patent on that pill, by the way.

[riri]

God forbid, you feel stigmatized if you have a highly contagious, possibly fatal and, yet to be fully understood disease.

My lord, who comes up with these guidelines? Mary Poppins?

[IvanT]

I have a theory for them:

1. Someone from an Asian country (China, Taiwan et al) boards plane in their native land

2. Plane lands roughly 13 hours later in Toronto

3. Said person starts coughing all over the place while walking unhindered through Canadian customs.


WOW! That was hard.

[aristeides]

PC kills.

[Dog Gone]

Said person could start coughing a day after arriving in Toronto or New York City, or anywhere else, and nobody would know where it came from until that person checks into a hospital that has its act together.

The only reason we don't have big outbreaks of SARS in this country is because we're lucky.

[snopercod]

From the ViroPharma website:

Is ViroPharma trying to discover treatments for SARS?

Yes. We are currently evaluating compounds from our chemical library for potential inhibitors of the recently identified coronavirus that is believed to cause severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is an RNA virus, a virus group for which we have substantial expertise in antiviral drug discovery and development.

We are collaborating with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Frederick, Maryland on this program. USAMRIID and ViroPharma have together established a high capacity testing assay and are evaluating compounds provided by us in an effort to discover specific antiviral compounds that prevent SARS-CoV from attacking healthy human cells.