U.S. strain of SARS much milder, data show

USA Today via Yahoo ^ | April 11, 2003 | Steve Sternberg

[flashbunny]

American-style SARS appears be a weaker cousin of the devastating pneumonia-like illness that has taken root in Canada and Asia, statistics out Thursday suggest.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, is so much milder in the USA than abroad that Florida epidemiologist Steven Wiersma says some experts cautiously joke about renaming the U.S. version ''MARS,'' for mild acute respiratory syndrome.

''The cases we have seen in Florida have been of mild acute respiratory syndrome,'' Wiersma says.

The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) statistics reflect this. Of 166 people with suspected SARS in the USA, most have had normal chest X-rays. Only 33 have developed pneumonia or respiratory distress. Only four of 60 patients who needed hospitalization were still admitted Wednesday. Only one person has needed mechanical assistance breathing, and no one has died, says Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC.

Canada, in contrast, reports 253 suspected cases and 10 deaths. Worldwide, 111 of the 2,781 SARS victims have died. Hundreds have developed pneumonia, and people in need of mechanical ventilation have filled intensive-care units in Hong Kong and Hanoi.

Health authorities are baffled at the apparent difference in the severity of a disease caused by the same virus in different countries. ''We can't explain it,'' says John Jernigan, the CDC expert who is monitoring patient care in the USA. ''We're actively investigating possible reasons for that.''

One possible explanation is that the case definition used in the United States is extremely broad, linking a temperature and flu-like symptoms with foreign travel in affected areas. ''It's quite possible that people can meet the case definition for SARS and not be related to the outbreak at all,'' Jernigan says. Another, he says, is that the broad definition, coupled with efforts to educate travelers who may have been exposed to SARS abroad, may prompt people to get treatment earlier than elsewhere.

In other developments:

* The CDC has developed an educational video about SARS to be shown on international flights, Gerberding says.

* Singapore's government said it would quarantine new workers from SARS-afflicted regions for 10 days. People who are quarantined will be monitored with Web cameras and an electronic wristband that sounds an alarm if they leave home.

[Scenic Sounds]

Did you put the toilets out in the rain? I'd be complaining too!

I just can't seem to do anything right anymore. There was a time when everything seemed so simple, so easy.

I'll have them back in by dawn.

[luckystarmom]

I've read reports that SARS seems to be affecting Asians more than caucasians. Also, I read that children seem to have a natural immunity.

I'm wondering if the cases in the US are maybe mixed race individuals, and that is why they are not having as much trouble.

[EternalHope]

It IS affecting Asians the most. However, that is to be expected because of where the disease originated. Nothing in the published literature indicates any intrinsic genetic pre-dispositon to get this disease.

One of the first victims was a doctor from France.

[luckystarmom]

I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

I'm very concerned about this because my daughters almost died of RSV (respiratory synctial virus) when they were infants. They are 6 now, but one of them still have pretty bad asthma.

I'm also worried about my dad. He just got over pneumonia, he's elderly, and he has heart trouble.

I hope they develop a vaccine or treatment very quickly.

[Amelia]

I remember when the answers seemed so clear
We had never lived with doubt or tasted fear.
It was easy then to tell truth from lies
Selling out from compromise
Who to love and who to hate,
The foolish from the wise.

But today there is no day or night
Today there is no dark or light.
Today there is no black or white,
Only shades of gray.

[keri]

FYI.

[riri]

I've read reports that SARS seems to be affecting Asians more than caucasians. Also, I read that children seem to have a natural immunity

Well, my children are 25% Asian...where does that leave them?

My head hurts.

[Scenic Sounds]

Oh, bless you, Amelia. There's nothing like Davy Jones to make an outdoor-plumbing rainy day complete.

Did I happen to mention where I left my garden shovel?

[EternalHope]

I understand your concern. SARS is a personal concern of mine too.

My wife is one of the very few women under the age of 50 to get multiple myeloma (the odds are about one in a million at her age). She has a completely trashed immune system as a result, and will certainly die if she gets SARS.

FreeRepublic has its share of posters commenting about how they are not personally worried because they think only "certain people" are at risk. These people are both wrong (it could get them too), and clearly lacking in some part of their humanity.

[CathyRyan]

Well said.

[Amelia]

I thought you left the garden shovel next to the new outdoor toilet....have you moved them back in yet?

[Scenic Sounds]

I thought you left the garden shovel next to the new outdoor toilet....have you moved them back in yet?

Thanks, Amelia, I got them back in just before dawn.

Amelia, I don't care what you say, the next time we have a scare like this, I'm not moving the toilets outdoors. Next time I'm just gonna weld them shut.