Here are the details of the probable SARS case transferred to Surrey Memorial Hospital as detailed by news reports:
thenownews.com
"The first probable case of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has been found in the Tri-Cities after a 64-year-old woman walked into a Coquitlam X-ray clinic last week exhibiting symptoms of the potentially deadly disease.
All 22 staff on shift last Wednesday, including two physicians, X-ray technicians and clerical staff, have been quarantined at home for the mandatory 10-day incubation period.
Patients who were in the clinic at the time have also been notified by the public health unit and asked to remain in isolation and talk to a public health nurse daily about any symptom development. A total of 40 people are in isolation in their homes.
Dr. Anita McEachern, a physician at Sunwood Medical Imaging on Lougheed Highway in Coquitlam, said a woman who had returned from Hong Kong on March 20 visited the clinic, displaying classic symptoms of SARS, such as a dry cough, fever above 38 degrees C and shortness of breath.
royalcityrecord.com
A woman in her mid 60s who contracted SARS while in Asia remains in stable condition in an isolation room in Royal Columbian Hospital. The woman is the only probable case of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in the Fraser Health Authority (FHA) region, which stretches from Burnaby to Boston Bar.
FHA spokesperson Helen Carkner said the woman with SARS had "been in close household contact" with family members while visiting them in Asia. When she returned to her home in the Tri-Cities, she was alerted that one of her family members had SARS.
The 46 people who came in contact with the woman before she was placed in isolation are in voluntary home quarantine. Those include 41 employees and patients at the Sunwood X-ray lab in Coquitlam, three people from the woman's doctor's office and two family members. These people did not know at the time that the woman had SARS. Their quarantine ends this Saturday night, said Carkner, adding that public health officials are monitoring the people daily. As of Tuesday, those being observed had not developed SARS symptoms.
As for the woman at RCH, she is in an isolation room where RCH staff are following the hospital's infectious protection procedures, said Carkner.
creativeresistance.ca
VANCOUVER, B.C. - More than 50 people who attended a Lower Mainland medical clinic last week along with staff are being quarantined at home after the detection of a second probable case of SARS.
Health Canada: hc-sc.gc.ca
Helen Carkner, of the Fraser Health Authority, says the 64-year-old woman attended the Sunwood Clinic in Coquitlam last Wednesday for x-rays.
The woman is listed as the second probable case of severe acute respiratory syndrome in B.C.
She had travelled in Asia earlier this month and had close contact with another probable case of SARS.
The woman is now in stable condition at Royal Columbian Hospital, in New Westminster.
A couple of care providers from the clinic are now being monitored.
thenownews.com
RCH nurse contracted SARS from woman at Coquitlam clinic
By Leneen Robb - Staff Reporter
A nurse at Royal Columbian Hospital who contracted SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) was infected by the same woman who had previously visited a Coquitlam X-ray clinic, the Fraser Health Authority has confirmed.
As The NOW reported April 2, more than 20 people working at Sunwood Medical Imaging on Lougheed Highway were quarantined for 10 days after potentially coming into contact with the 64-year-old SARS patient, who was later taken to Royal Columbian Hospital.
Fraser Health Authority spokeswoman Helen Carkner said Thursday that the elderly patient remains at Surrey Memorial Hospital, where she was transferred.
So far, no Royal Columbian staff besides the nurse have shown symptoms of SARS.
"The staff was pretty well aware that if they started feeling ill at all, they would need to be off," Carkner said. "So the nurse did as soon as she started (feeling symptoms). It mimics a lot of things. It could be the flu, it could be a bad cold or whatever, but as soon as she started feeling ill, she phoned in sick, so that definitely limited the number of contacts."
Carkner said public health staff have contacted everyone who may have come into contact with the 64-year-old SARS patient.
Since the nurse became B.C.'s fourth probable case of SARS - and the province's first apparent case of secondary transmission - the health authority recommended that all health-care workers wear goggles when treating patients who exhibit symptoms of the disease.
royalcityrecord.com
"There is still only one documented case of transmission from a patient to a care provider," said Dr. Rob Parker, Fraser Health Authority deputy medical health officer, regarding the nurse. "That case involved Fraser Health's first and only probable SARS patient, who has been cared for uneventfully and continued to recover in Surrey Memorial Hospital since April 1, when she was transferred to that hospital from Royal Columbian. Nevertheless, we are maintaining maximum vigilance and precautions at all our hospitals, and certainly at RCH."
Meanwhile, 38 RCH health-care workers are being monitored at home because they had contact with a suspect case. To date, none have shown SARS symptoms. Ten of these will no longer be excluded from working as of yesterday. The other 28 are expected to complete their exclusion from work April 29.
royalcityrecord.com
Health-care workers in the local health district have added another piece of equipment to their wardrobe after a Royal Columbian Hospital nurse was listed as the fourth case of SARS in B.C.
The nurse had been looking after the 64-year-old SARS patient who was admitted to RCH March 28. While the 44-year-old nurse followed infectious disease procedures - wearing a gown, mask and gloves and washing her hands afterwards - she still contracted the deadly disease. Health workers are now adding goggles to the list of clothing they will wear while dealing with SARS patients, said Fraser Health Authority deputy medical health officer Dr. Robert Parker.
The nurse provided care for the SARS patient March 29 and 30. The nurse left work on April 3 because of her days off. April 9 she felt fatigued and so did not return to work. Last weekend she developed a fever and cough. April 14 the Vancouver resident went to St. Paul's emergency, where she was admitted to hospital. As of Wednesday she was in stable condition. She is the first person in B.C. to contract the disease here. The province's other three cases contracted SARS while in Hong Kong.
Parker said the 30 people in Vancouver whom the nurse had been in contact with have been quarantined at home for 10 days.
"We don't think there is any ongoing risk to patients and staff at RCH," said Parker. He said that during any given day, between 20 and 30 different health-care workers would have attended to the RCH SARS patient.
Meanwhile, the RCH SARS patient was moved April 1 to Surrey Memorial Hospital to be on the intensive care unit ventilation system there. She remains in serious but stable condition.
royalcityrecord.com
"There is still only one documented case of transmission from a patient to a care provider," said Dr. Rob Parker, Fraser Health Authority deputy medical health officer, regarding the nurse. "That case involved Fraser Health's first and only probable SARS patient, who has been cared for uneventfully and continued to recover in Surrey Memorial Hospital since April 1, when she was transferred to that hospital from Royal Columbian. Nevertheless, we are maintaining maximum vigilance and precautions at all our hospitals, and certainly at RCH."
To sum up:
* The region's first SARS patient, who was admitted to hospital March 28, is in recovery mode. The 64-year-old contracted SARS while in Hong Kong.
* A nurse who treated this patient contracted SARS last week and is in recovery in St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver.
* A health-care worker who treated this patient reported suspected SARS symptoms over the weekend and is in isolation at home.
* A patient this health-care worker treated is being monitored for SARS. |
