Isolation Measures Enacted to Stop SARS
Isolation Measures Enacted to Stop SARS
Drastic Steps Taken To Prevent Spread of Mysterious Illness
March 31, 2003 - Health officials are now taking unprecedented steps to control the spread of the mysterious illness known as SARS (sudden acute respiratory syndrome) as the death toll continues to rise.
Hundreds of people living in a Hong Kong apartment complex have been ordered not to leave their homes for 10 days. The isolation order came after officials discovered that more than 213 of the complex's residents have been hospitalized with SARS since the outbreak began in Hong Kong on March 12.
And in an attempt to prevent further spread of sudden acute respiratory syndrome in Canada, health officials have asked thousands of people who may have come in contact with SARS patients in Toronto to stay home and voluntarily isolate themselves for 10 days. Toronto has a large Asian immigrant population and at least 44 SARS cases and four deaths have been reported in Canada since the outbreak began.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 1,600 people have been affected by SARS, including 58 deaths. The CDC is currently investigating 69 suspected SARS cases in the U.S., but no deaths have been reported in this country.
WHO officials lost one of their own this weekend when infectious disease expert Carlo Urbani, MD, died of sudden acute respiratory syndrome on Saturday at the age of 46. Urbani was the first WHO officer to identify the outbreak of the new disease in an American businessman in Hanoi.
"Carlo was the one who very quickly saw that this was something very strange. When people became very concerned in the hospital, he was there every day, collecting samples, talking to the staff, and strengthening infection control procedures," says Pascale Brudon, the WHO representative in Vietnam, in a news release.
Based on the investigation so far, researchers believe that SARS is primarily transmitted when an infected person sneezes or coughs, and the droplets are spread to a nearby contact. But officials say they are also concerned about the possibility that the disease may be transmitted through the air or via contact with a contaminated object.
Isolation Measures Enacted to Stop SARS
Drastic Steps Taken To Prevent Spread of Mysterious Illness
March 31, 2003 - Health officials are now taking unprecedented steps to control the spread of the mysterious illness known as SARS (sudden acute respiratory syndrome) as the death toll continues to rise.
Hundreds of people living in a Hong Kong apartment complex have been ordered not to leave their homes for 10 days. The isolation order came after officials discovered that more than 213 of the complex's residents have been hospitalized with SARS since the outbreak began in Hong Kong on March 12.
And in an attempt to prevent further spread of sudden acute respiratory syndrome in Canada, health officials have asked thousands of people who may have come in contact with SARS patients in Toronto to stay home and voluntarily isolate themselves for 10 days. Toronto has a large Asian immigrant population and at least 44 SARS cases and four deaths have been reported in Canada since the outbreak began.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 1,600 people have been affected by SARS, including 58 deaths. The CDC is currently investigating 69 suspected SARS cases in the U.S., but no deaths have been reported in this country.
WHO officials lost one of their own this weekend when infectious disease expert Carlo Urbani, MD, died of sudden acute respiratory syndrome on Saturday at the age of 46. Urbani was the first WHO officer to identify the outbreak of the new disease in an American businessman in Hanoi.
"Carlo was the one who very quickly saw that this was something very strange. When people became very concerned in the hospital, he was there every day, collecting samples, talking to the staff, and strengthening infection control procedures," says Pascale Brudon, the WHO representative in Vietnam, in a news release.
How SARS Spreads
Based on the investigation so far, researchers believe that SARS is primarily transmitted when an infected person sneezes or coughs, and the droplets are spread to a nearby contact. But officials say they are also concerned about the possibility that the disease may be transmitted through the air or via contact with a contaminated object.