Possible SARS case in Ottawa hospital

CBC ^

[aristeides]

I'm not sure at all that it's a bioweapon gone bad. I just mention it as a reasonable possibility to bear in mind.

[aristeides]

SARS toll climbs in Toronto.

[aristeides]

From that article:

Dr. Mederski, of North York General Hospital, said yesterday that there are people who have mild cases of the disease — some display no symptoms whatsoever — but carry the SARS virus and, in rare cases, could spread it to others.

"Although the epicentre of the infection, at least in Toronto, may have stemmed from a hospital base, the subsequent expansion of that illness in my opinion has undoubtedly gone far beyond clinical institutions and may be in the community, but in a much softer form," she said.

[per loin]

We've heard hints of these mild cases, almost from the beginning, but I've yet to see any attempts at quantification. Has anyone here?

[riri]

has undoubtedly gone far beyond clinical institutions and may be in the community, but in a much softer form," she said

Translation: they don't have a flipping clue.

[aristeides]

SARS claims one more life in Toronto as second outbreak rages on:

In Ottawa, health authorities closed hospitals to visitors and volunteers as they investigated a patient with suspicious symptoms.

The patient, a nurse who came in contact with a woman from Toronto who passed through the city two weeks ago, is neither a possible or suspect SARS case, but is being investigated, said Dr. Robert Cushman, the city's medical officer of health.

[riri]

Has anybody read today's ProMed Update?

According to Taiwan's Center for Disease Control, positive results for the SARS virus occurs in up to 3 percent of reported cases, which is lower than expected. At least 70 percent of tested cases showed probable Chlamydia or _Mycoplasma pneumoniae_ infections. Thus, during this period, it has been recommended that atypical pneumonia should be treated with antibiotics to allow observation of the clinical response, which would facilitate the most appropriate placement of patients. The clinical and treatment procedures for patients who test positively for the SARS virus, however, should continue adherence to the established recommended procedures.

Here is the Chlamydia again? Have you been reading that anywhere elae, except in the early Chinese reports?

Still don't know whats wrong with the neighbor. Day 9 with his fever.

[aristeides]

The chlamydia and the mycoplasma pneumoniae could be secondary infections after something -- something that we have presumed would be the SARS coronavirus -- did a number on the immune systems. But detectable SARS coronavirus in only 3% of the cases is remarkably low. I wonder if the virus goes away as the patient enters the third stage and the immune system overreacts. I suppose it's possible that the immune overreaction succeeds in killing the SARS coronavirus but leaves the victim vulnerable to a secondary infection.

[IYAAYAS]

Does that mean less than 3 percent of SARS patients tested positive for the coronavirus thought responsible for SARS but 70 percent are positive for chlamydia?

[riri]

That is how I understand it. It is bringing me back to the early days when the Chicoms made the claim.

I have a feeling that know less now than when they started.

[aristeides]

Link to Promed Update.

[riri]

Study: SARS Virus Can Live for 3 Days on Plastic
Fri May 30, 2003 12:19 PM ET
By Carrie Lee

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The SARS virus can survive for as long as three days on plastered walls, glass, plastic and other surfaces, Hong Kong researchers said on Friday.

The findings, in a study from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, are based on samples taken from a hospital with SARS patients.

The university, in a statement, said the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome could survive for 72 hours on surfaces such as stainless steel, plastered walls, glass, plastic and formica in a hospital setting.

The findings come as Hong Kong said SARS had infected four more people in the city. The victims were believed to have caught the disease from SARS patients in the same hospitals. SARS has killed 274 people in Hong Kong since the epidemic began in March and infected 1,736. The virus surfaced in southern China late last year and has been spread around the world by air travelers.

Asked about the study's findings, WHO spokesman Iain Simpson said in Geneva: "It is very difficult to give it a specific length of time because it varies from surface to surface and even place to place.

"It is, I think, slightly longer than we have seen before but it is not particularly surprising."

Doctors worry that the long life of the virus outside a host would make infections easier.

Many of those who recently caught the disease in the city are believed to have picked it up from other hospital patients before the latter showed obvious SARS symptoms.

"Preventive precautions are adequate in SARS wards. The worry is other wards with no suspected cases, or so called 'invisible cases'," Sydney Chung, Dean of the university's Faculty of Medicine, told a news conference.

"The elderly people sometimes can have SARS and show no typical symptoms, not even fever. Those are dangerous situations," he said, urging hospital workers in all wards to take full precautions.

The latest findings come after the World Health Organization said earlier this month the SARS virus could live for days in the stool and urine of patients.

In a separate development, Deputy Director of Health Leung Pak-yin said that Hong Kong, Macau and the neighboring Chinese province of Guangdong were planning to return visitors found to have SARS symptoms at immigration points to their area of origin to prevent the three areas from exporting the illness.

He said the three sides were talking about details of the operation.

Leung was speaking after the first meeting on SARS among medical officials and experts from Hong Kong, Guangdong and nearby Macau.

He said the three sides agreed to extend the present mechanism on information exchange and to include in it other infectious diseases alongside SARS.

On Friday, China said a ban on travel by Guangdong citizens to Hong Kong will be lifted from June 1.

[aristeides]

I take it the study was done in Hong Kong. If it was done recently, that virus survived that long on surfaces when the weather would have been pretty warm.

[jacquej]

Wait, could that promed report be interpreted differently? Could it mean that many who are listed as having SARS acutally have pneumonia or the lung form of chlamydia, and therefore are not as dangerous?

Now I am really more confused... If it doesn't mean that, and that these are as lethal as SARS....

then I am more worried about some kind of biogerm-warfare cocktail has been released, either accident, or purposefully.

Weaken the enemy, distract him, break down his freedom, etc... Sounds like something out of that Sun-Tsu war book (not sure if i have the name right, but someone will know here)

[aristeides]

Wait, could that promed report be interpreted differently? Could it mean that many who are listed as having SARS acutally have pneumonia or the lung form of chlamydia, and therefore are not as dangerous?

I think it does mean that, because the report also seems to call for relaxing the quarantine on those people.

[aristeides]

Ottawa Checks Possible SARS Case, Toronto Man Dies . Sounds as if they think the nurse in Ottawa does not have SARS.

[jacquej]

State issues SARS alert for 4 counties
'Probable' victim visited Shippensburg

By EMILY PHELPS
Staff writer



A Canadian woman with a probable case of SARS sought treatment at a Shippensburg clinic last week, prompting the state to issue a health alert Thursday to doctors in Franklin, Adams, Cumberland and Dauphin counties.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health is asking health care workers in those counties to consider whether for anyone who sought medical attention since May 16 could have had symptoms of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

The unidentified woman, now hospitalized in Canada and classified as a probable SARS case under World Health Organization guidelines, went to a doctor's office in Shippensburg on May 19, according to the Health Department.

There is no evidence that the woman infected anyone during her visit to south central Pennsylvania, state health officials emphasized. The alert is a precautionary measure only, they said.

Bruce Hockersmith, mayor of Shippensburg, said he was alerted to the situation Thursday by Tom Moriarty, Shippensburg regional emergency management coordinator.

"Right now we just have to wait and see if it develops," Hockersmith said. "We certainly urge people not to panic or do anything like that."

Local health officials also urged calm.

"I'm not more worried than I was before," said Dr. Dave Carlson, vice president of medical affairs for Summit Health, which operates Chambersburg and Waynesboro hospitals.

There are no known SARS cases in the community, he said.

Because the Canadian woman was showing signs of the virus, it is likely that she was not especially infectious, the department said.

Officials also noted that the incubation period of 10 days has almost passed without detection of any unexplained illness consistent with the pneumonia-like disease.

Worldwide, SARS has killed at least 753 people since it emerged in November and has infected more than 8,200 people, mostly in mainland China and Hong Kong.

The Canadian woman who sought treatment in Shippensburg probably was exposed unknowingly to the SARS virus before leaving Canada, according to the health alert. She was in Shippensburg from May 16 to May 20.

Richard McGarvey, Pennsylvania Department of Health spokesperson, declined to name the clinic where the person saw a doctor, citing confidentiality concerns. He said the clinic has been notified.

Generally, SARS symptoms emerge between two and 10 days after exposure.

That window has passed, McGarvey said, without any cases being reported.

At the moment, the state Department of Health is looking to see whether the visitor may have attended any events or places in the area.

The person's visit was after Shippensburg University's graduation on May 10, and she left before the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) high school track and field championships that began May 23.

She traveled to and from Canada by private car, according to the alert.

The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta is working with Health Canada to determine the patient's specific itinerary.

"It's a little unclear still," McGarvey said.

The information received so far is preliminary, according to the alert.


http://www.publicopiniononline.com/news/stories/20030530/localnews/392865.html


OK, it is test time, friends... find the crazy sentence in this one!!!!!!

[aristeides]

The crazy sentence was pointed out to me yesterday by another poster, so it would be cheating for me to say.

[aristeides]

SARS Still Fooling Doctors .

[aristeides]

On the SARS Beat.