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Pastimes : SARS - what next? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (746)	9/19/2003 3:15:05 AM
From: Henry Niman	Respond to of 1070

Private lab had positive PCR on stools, but failed to confirm with nasal swabs. Again the test is blamed and positive considered unreliable as negative data again trumps positive. >===== Original Message From "Henry L Niman, PhD" <henry_niman@hms.harvard.edu> ===== story.news.yahoo.com False Alarms as Edgy HK Fears Return of SARS Virus 2 hours, 32 minutes ago Add Health - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Tan Ee Lyn HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong is on edge as the Chinese winter approaches, bringing with it fears of a return of the SARS (news - web sites) virus which killed hundreds in the territory and in neighboring Guangdong Province just a few months ago. Two SARS scares in Hong Kong this week put its healthcare system back in the firing line. Some experts fear it may be unable to withstand a second massive onslaught of the flu-like disease. Medical experts say that Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which killed almost 300 people in Hong Kong and about 350 on the mainland, could re-emerge during the winter months but that emergency contingency plans are far from ready in the territory. "We are not worried about a few cases. But if there are many infections within a short time, we wonder if the system and the contingency plan can handle that," said Wong Tak-cheung, president of the Public Doctors' Association in Hong Kong. "These plans are still being drafted, they are really not ready for a massive outbreak," Wong told Reuters. The Hong Kong authorities are on red alert to prevent a repeat of this year's mass outbreak of SARS, which first surfaced in Guangdong and went on to kill more than 800 people globally. Panic spread across the city this week when a 34-year-old woman and seven inmates at a mental hospital were isolated in separate incidents for fever and breathing problems -- some of the most classic symptoms of SARS. Though false alarms, they highlighted sharp deficiencies in how medical staff handled suspect SARS cases and the lack of any information sharing between private and public health agencies. In the woman's case, a private laboratory found the virus in the woman's stools. But two later tests at government labs using samples from the woman's nasal-pharyngeal passage -- which experts regard as a more reliable guide -- turned up negative.

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (746)	9/26/2003 3:31:53 PM
From: Henry Niman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1070

Experts Warn of Gaps in Gov't SARS Plan DANIEL YEE Associated Press ATLANTA - Although U.S. health officials soon will release new hospital guidelines for fending off a SARS outbreak, experts say gaps in the federal plan still need to be resolved before a new season of the virus emerges. Without a rapid SARS test, there's no easy way to distinguish that respiratory virus from the flu. Many hospitals don't have the space for isolation wards for numerous SARS patients. And there's no national plan for rushing extra doctors to a hospital that might be overwhelmed by SARS cases. "That part's very problematic," said Dr. Keith Woeltje, a member of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. "We already have a nursing shortage without SARS." kansascity.com